Is Iced Tea Harmful to Children?

I would be interested to know to what extent these ice teas made from granules that you can mix yourself are harmful to children aged 1-5 years. The point is that it contains black tea extract. There is a family whose children drink between 1 and 3 liters of it a day.

Ice tea is by no means a suitable thirst quencher for toddlers and children. The black tea it contains contains caffeine. However, tea beverages do not require a reference to caffeine when “tea” appears in the designation, even if caffeinated black tea is used. A caffeine-free fruit tea can be assumed, especially with designations that indicate a fruit content or taste, such as “ice tea peach”.

Therefore, in the opinion of the consumer advice center, a quick reference to caffeine should also be mandatory for this product group, and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture was informed about the labeling problem.

Children and young people can react to caffeine with restlessness, heart and pulse racing and disturbed sleep, so drinks such as coffee, green and black tea, cola and energy drinks are not suitable for them. With 2-5 mg caffeine/100 ml, instant teas contain relatively little caffeine compared to other caffeine-containing beverages (e.g. filter coffee contains about 30 mg/100 ml), but because of their lower body weight, children can only tolerate smaller amounts of caffeine.

The usually high sugar content of iced tea drinks is problematic. This is also why it is not a suitable thirst quencher. Depending on the dosage of the granules, there are about 20 sugar cubes per 1 liter. Low-sugar variants are also not an alternative, since sweeteners or sugar substitutes are also not recommended.

Children can be weaned slowly from the strong sweet taste by gradually reducing the sugar content in the drinks. Water or fruit teas are ideal, if you want it a bit sweet, a dash of juice is enough.