New Delhi: India has banned the use of epichlorohydrin, a paper-strengthening chemical classified as a potential carcinogen, and chlorine for bleaching in tea bags sold in the country.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which works under the department of consumers affairs, has for the first time set norms for tea bags, mandating that they carry the manufacturer’s name and address, batch number, date of manufacture and expiry date while laying down safety, quality and traceability requirements for the rapidly growing segment.
India’s $500 million tea bag market is growing as demand rises in urban households, offices, hotels, airlines and export markets due to convenience and changing consumption patterns.
“Tea bags are now widely used globally, and the new standard has been formulated to assist manufacturers in production and quality control,” said a government official, who wished not to be identified. “The standards will be applicable to tea sold in tea bags, including black tea, green tea and other recognized tea varieties.”
The BIS standard exclusively reviewed by Mint has notified specifications for every component of a tea bag, including the bag material, thread, fasteners, tags, inks and adhesives.
Epichlorohydrin, a chemical used in paper manufacturing, is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as probably carcinogenic to humans and is listed by the US National Toxicology Program as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.
BIS mandated that tea bag paper must be made from virgin pulp material and may contain fibres from the Abacá plant to improve strength. Abacá is a plant in the banana family grown primarily for its strong, durable fibre derived from its leaf stems.
Migration tests
One of the most significant provisions for consumers is the requirement that tea bag paper, tags and threads must pass migration tests applicable to food-contact materials. The tests ensure that substances from packaging materials do not migrate into the tea during brewing. Inks used for printing on tea bag tags must also comply with food-packaging ink standards.
The thread connecting the tea bag and tag may be made of combed cotton, polylactic acid or polypropylene and must meet minimum strength requirements.
Tea bags may be manufactured in round, square, rectangular or pyramidal shapes and can be designed as single or double chamber bags. The BIS noted that single-use tea bags typically contain between 1 gram and 4 grams of tea, while larger tea bags used for multiple servings generally contain 4 grams to 25 grams.
Queries sent on 1 June to spokespersons of BIS, Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, Girnar Tea and Wagh Bakri Tea remained unanswered till press time.
“It is good for the industry and should be implemented across the board. The standards prescribed for tea bags will benefit the industry in the long run. It will also help push exports,” said Foram Chandrakant Shah, director of Deepak Tea near Bhuj in Gujarat.
Experts said the food safety community has not given enough serious attention to the matter in India and it deserves more than a passing mention.
Nanoplastic particles
“Tea bags made from nylon, polypropylene or PET mesh can release billions of microplastic and nanoplastic particles when immersed in water at 90-95 degrees. They are measurable concentrations of particles small enough to cross biological barriers that larger particles cannot,” said Ashwin Bhadri, founder and CEO of Equinox Labs, a food, water and air testing and auditing laboratory. “The honest answer to whether this poses a proven health risk at typical consumption levels is that the science is still developing, and that is precisely the problem.”
“In India, where tea consumption runs into hundreds of billions of cups annually, the scale of potential exposure is extraordinary. It is to apply the precautionary principle, test the materials, set migration limits and give consumers the information they need to make an informed choice about what goes into their cup,” Bhadri added.
Health experts said the BIS norms are expected to bring greater uniformity to a rapidly growing segment of the tea market by establishing benchmarks for product safety, material quality and manufacturing practices.
“Chlorine-based bleaching has historically been associated with the formation of chlorinated by-products such as dioxins, while epichlorohydrin has been classified by international agencies as a potential carcinogen,” said Yudhyavir Singh, associate professor in the department of trauma anaesthesia and critical care, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi.
The restrictions align with global efforts to improve the safety of food-contact materials. The new norms are also aimed at scaling up India’s footprint in tea bag exports, which declined about 13% to $79.67 million in FY26 from $91.45 million in FY25.
Australia emerged as the largest market for Indian tea bags at $8.18 million, followed by Italy ($8.10 million), Ghana ($7.74 million), Togo ($6.90 million), the US ($5.56 million), Senegal ($3.78 million), Benin ($3.53 million), Mexico ($3.32 million), Canada ($2.98 million) and Mali ($2.89 million).