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Tea Council of the USA
Statement in Response to the FDA’s Decline of
Green Tea Cardiovascular Health Claim Petition
May 22, 2006
Recently the FDA denied a health claim for green tea.
Governmental health claims communicate information about reduction of disease state.
Therefore to qualify for such a claim, the research must show disease reduction through
epidemiological and clinical studies on the disease state.
While there is a great deal of evidence suggesting that dietary flavonoids, including
those found in both green and black tea, contribute to cardiovascular health , what
is currently missing from the literature is epidemiological research on green
tea consumption in the US population and clinical human studies showing that drinking
green tea reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing risk of specific
measurable endpoints associated with the disease, such as lowering cholesterol or blood
pressure.
We anticipate that the research will evolve to support a health claim in this area in
the future, since the anecdotal evidence certainly supports this position. Even though the
FDA has denied this health claim, we have no doubt that drinking tea contributes to
overall health on a variety of levels. The research on this subject has been ongoing for
decades. But as always, more research needs to be done and is being done now.
In the meantime, people should still feel good about drinking tea because it's an enjoyable
beverage and the research to date certainly suggests that it may contribute to an overall
healthy lifestyle.
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