Health Concern of Phenomenally Premium Boba Milk Tea and Pearls Beverages in Kuala Lumpur: Sugary Content and Physico-chemical Profiles Analysis

Abstract

The sugary drink boba milk tea has seen its popularity surge in recent years. However, the overwhelmingly trending boba milk tea is categorised as a sugar-sweetened beverage due to its high sugar content. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the sugar content of four brands of boba milk tea drinks (brand A, B, C, and D) available around Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The physico-chemical characteristics of each brand were evaluated comprising the pH level, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), conductivity value, and liquid density. In addition, the glucose content in the liquid milk and boba pearls were determined using the glucometer and gravimetric analysis, which were then used to estimate the total glucose content in the boba milk tea samples. Based on the results, there were significant differences between the pH value and glucose content (p < 0.05). The pH of brand A recorded the highest value of 8.23 ± 0.03 (slightly alkaline) compared to other brands. The liquid milk of Brand A also exhibited the highest glucose content value and the highest density value (p < 0.05) with a value of 23.4 ± 0.5 mmol/L and 1030 g/L, respectively. However, brand D possessed the highest TDS content and conductivity with values of 1912 ± 36 ppm and 3825 ± 71 µS, respectively. Meanwhile, the highest glucose content in the liquid milk and boba pearls were 23.4 ± 0.5 mmol/L (brand A) and 18.1 ± 0.4 (brand B), respectively. Overall, the study estimated that brand B has the highest total glucose content (38.6 ± 0.1 mmol/L) due to the significant glucose content from the boba pearls. Surprisingly, the overall glucose content in boba milk tea (milk tea solution and boba pearl) was approximately from 2- to 5-fold more than the recommended daily sugar (glucose) intake of 8.33 mmol/L (equivalent to 50 g/day) by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia. The lack of preventive measures to curb the overconsumption of boba milk tea would cause a long-term adverse health effect on individuals and increase the rate of patients suffering from diabetic-related diseases and other non-communicable diseases (NCD). An intervention is required instantaneously from a public health perspective to regulate the consumption of sweetened and flavored beverages that is limitless added to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) without strict regulations.