Equal Exchange Tea

[jess-gf]

I emailed Equal Exchange about their teas, since their Earl Grey is my favorite and I like what they stand for. I asked them about wheat being used in tea bag glue and this was their response:

"Hi Jessica,

Thank you for your question to Equal Exchange regarding the use of gluten in tea bag glue. As our current line of tea is packed in India, I would have to inquire about the glue specifics. However, we are replacing our 2 lines of tea with a new line in a couple weeks! The tea bags in this new line do not contain any glue, as the string is tied to the tea bag with a knot. The teas will be packed in the U.S. and we hope to add a gluten-free seal on the box in the near future. Thank you for your support of Equal Exchange tea and small farmers!

Take care,

Jodi"

[Skylark]

Gluten in tea bag glue is an urban legend. I wish people would stop repeating it on this board. I have yet to see a documented report of gluten in a tea bag. You do have to check for barley and other gluten ingredients in the tea itself.

Open Original Shared Link Advertisement.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/a-celiac-disease-urban-legend-1822067.html

[Skylark]

It seems I can't post the link. The article is at Lame Advertisement dot com. If you put that instead of lame advertisement you should be able to read it.

Edit: oh, for crying out loud. a r t i c l e s b a s e

(Skylark smacks the spam filter upside the head. )

[jess-gf]

Will tinyurl work? The article is here Open Original Shared Link

I read it, but I'm still not sure :/ There was a comment on the article saying it was untrue. Gah. I must do some more research. It would be nice to be able to drink all of my teas again, I have quite a stash!

[jess-gf]

"Heat-sealed tea bag paper usually has a heat-sealable thermoplastic such as PVC or polypropylene, as a component fiber on inner side of the tea bag surface." says Open Original Shared Link

So it's.. plastic?

[Skylark]

Yes, it's plastic. And of course there was a comment on the article I linked saying it's untrue. (By the way, thanks for the TinyURL idea!) The tea bag urban legend has taken hold to where tea manufacturers are scratching their heads in bewilderment and putting gluten-free statements on products that have never in their history had anything to do with wheat. Other than tea blends containing gluten grains or barley malt in the tea itself, tea is safe.

Here's a beverage list with a lot of links to tea manufacturers stating their teas are gluten-free.

Open Original Shared Link