What do milk and tea have in common? Well, they both just happen to be some of the most favorably talked about commodities in the food and beverage industry today. The science and intellectual properties focusing on milk and tea are immense. Specifically with tea, since 2001, more than 1,000 studies have been conducted on tea; and more than 450 patents have been applied or issued for tea products around the world.

What do milk and tea have in common? Well, they both just happen to be some of the most favorably talked about commodities in the food and beverage industry today. The science and intellectual properties focusing on milk and tea are immense. Specifically with tea, since 2001, more than 1,000 studies have been conducted on tea; and more than 450 patents have been applied or issued for tea products around the world.

Besides being extensively researched and possessing healthful halos, what else do milk and tea have in common? The answer is simple: Dairies are an ideal manufacturing environment for making some of the best ready-to-drink (RTD) iced tea beverages. From green tea to lemon with honey, RTD iced tea beverages are a rapidly growing category. In fact, from 2000 to 2004, RTD iced tea retail sales increased almost 20%. What do milk and tea have in common? Well, they both just happen to be some of the most favorably talked about commodities in the food and beverage industry today. The science and intellectual properties focusing on milk and tea are immense. Specifically with tea, since 2001, more than 1,000 studies have been conducted on tea; and more than 450 patents have been applied or issued for tea products around the world.

Besides being extensively researched and possessing healthful halos, what else do milk and tea have in common? The answer is simple: Dairies are an ideal manufacturing environment for making some of the best ready-to-drink (RTD) iced tea beverages. From green tea to lemon with honey, RTD iced tea beverages are a rapidly growing category. In fact, from 2000 to 2004, RTD iced tea retail sales increased almost 20%.

The basics on tea

There are around 3,000 varieties of "true" tea, but they all come from the same evergreen plant- Camellia sinensis. Tea varieties are classified by the manner in which the leaves are processed after plucking. The four most common varieties are black, green, oolong and white.

Black tea is defined as freshly plucked leaves that are withered indoors in open-air shelves without any physical breaking of the leaf structure. After withering the leaves are rolled, exposing the enzymes in the leaf to the atmosphere, allowing them to ferment. At a critical point, the fermenting tea leaves are fired at high heat to stop the fermentation process.

The leaves used to make green tea are not fermented. Rather, they are steamed or otherwise heated immediately after plucking to prevent any fermentation. And, oolong tea is fermented only partially, to a point between black and green teas.

White tea, like green tea, is not fermented. White tea leaves are allowed to dry completely in the sun without any pan frying or steaming, resulting in a purer, natural state. During plucking, great care is given to the selection of leaves.

Flavored and spiced teas are typically made from black tea. Flavors are usually sprayed on, whereas spices are included as bits and pieces. Herbal teas are not real tea, as they are not derived from the C. sinensis plant.

RTD iced teas are typically made with one or a blend of the aforementioned teas. Flavor and sweetener are also often added. According to Productscan Online, green tea, lemon and peach led the way as the most frequent flavors for new tea drinks launched worldwide in 2004, much as they did in 2003. However, vanilla and honey are new entrants into the top-10 most used flavors, while raspberry and ginger have slipped down the list.

Green tea is one of the world's oldest and most popular beverages, yet it is still being discovered by Americans. Because it is not as highly processed as black tea, green tea is a rich source of antioxidants, which contributes to its healthful halo. Researchers have found that green tea can help prevent cancer and other degenerative diseases. And get this, similar to recent findings regarding dairy, green tea is being explored as a natural weightloss aid.

The antioxidants in green tea are called polyphenols. Many of the benefits center around the polyphenol compounds known as catechins-honeycomb-like chemical structures that have many phenol components integrated into the molecular backbone. Epigallocatechin allate (ECGC) is the most extensively studied catechin in tea, and also happens to be the most abundant catechin in green tea. Regarding the weightloss research, it looks as if ECGC is able to stimulate the body's production of the hormone noradrenaline, which boosts the rate of metabolism.

Here's an interesting tidbit. Some preliminary, and I mean preliminary, research links the habit of drinking green tea with higher bone density. And, a new Chinese study found that drinking green tea is a simple way to prevent gastrointestinal disorders.

Here's a scary thought: Jennifer English, host of the Food & Wine Radio Network recently said, "Tea is the new wine." This, of course, is just fine for the dairy industry. What we don't want is anyone to compare the benefits of tea to the benefits of milk.

As for now, dairies wanting to enhance their healthful product line should be offering RTD iced green tea. It's easy and dairies have all the right tools to do it.