TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Consumers' Foundation (消基會) revealed alarming findings from a recent investigation into 74 beverage shops in Taiwan on Wednesday (July 10). Between April and May, the foundation discovered that only eight shops (10.8%) disclosed the milk brands used in their fresh milk tea products on their websites or menus.
Some shops misrepresented their milk brands, with instances of using reconstituted whole milk. SHISHENG Milk Tea Factory (十盛熟成奶茶專門店), ITSO Tea (一手私藏世界紅茶), and Li-Ji Tea Shop (李記紅茶冰) failed to provide milk brand information, making it difficult for consumers to verify the source of the milk in their beverages.
TRUEDAN (珍煮丹) claimed on its website that a particular drink used smallholder dairying milk but used Kuang Chuan Dairy Company (光泉) milk. BOBOLABO (料杯杯) and Daily Breakfast (達利早餐店) used Creation Series New Zealand Milk (double rich) (開元紐西蘭特濃牛乳), which consists of water and concentrated whole milk. Huada Milk Tea (樺達奶茶) uses long-life milk from Kuang Chuan Dairy Company (光泉), which may differ from consumers' expectations of "fresh milk."
In the survey, 50 shops (67.5%) offered unsweetened fresh milk tea, while 7 indicated the natural sweetness of fresh milk, three used honey for flavor, and 12 had pre-sweetened drinks. Only two shops (2.7%) proactively asked customers if they preferred eco-friendly cups, showing a significant gap in promoting sustainability.
The Foundation called for shops to disclose milk brands on their websites and menus, ensuring consumers' right to know the ingredients in their drinks. The foundation also suggested training staff to understand product ingredients and brand information to answer customer inquiries accurately.
