RTD Tea Guidelines

Any ready to drink beverage using the term “tea” as a part of the statement of identity on the product’s label, should contain solids from Camellia sinensis at the minimum level of 0.4g/liter or should be labeled as a “tea flavored beverage”.

Testing Methodology

When working with black or green tea ready to drink products, the AOAC Methods Manual as specified for oven solids measurements for use with tea are recommended. If other ingredients are already included in the mixture with the tea solids, the “simple” oven solids test methods in the AOAC Manual should be supplemented by tests for the other ingredients and then subtracted from the oven solids results thereby netting an accurate number for tea solids.

Flavonoid Content

As ready to drink tea is a value added product and subject to the involvement of multiple ingredients, and as there have been efforts for many years made by the Tea Association of the USA to educate consumers about the health attributes of tea, be it resolved, the following interim working papers guideline is adopted:

Ready to drink teas that contain a minimum of 0.4g/liter tea solids from Camellia sinensis, also are recognized as containing a meaningful level of flavonoids. A minimum amount of flavonoids has not been established at this time.