Summer's flagship drink is one of the worst for your health, according to a survey.

This trendy drink is often considered healthy. But that's far from the case, and the problem isn't just the amount of sugar.

We see it everywhere: on the street, in supermarkets, in Asian shops, on social media... Originating in Asia, it has become popular in the rest of the world over the past few years, to the point of becoming a real trend. And it's no surprise: this colorful, sweet-tasting drink can be customized to suit everyone's tastes. The icing on the cake: as its name suggests, it's made from tea, a drink known for its health benefits. But that doesn't mean it's good for your health...

This drink is called bubble tea. It doesn't just contain tea and tapioca pearls, a characteristic of this drink. It also sometimes contains milk, which can make it particularly high in calories. A bubble tea, often drunk in large cups, can actually contain as much as 300 to 400 kcal. That's more than a Coke! Especially since these are liquid calories, which are particularly criticized because they are ingested without realizing it.

Bubble tea also contains significant amounts of sugar: 10 grams per 100 ml, which is (once again) more than Coke... With a 500 cl bubble tea, half of the recommended daily sugar intake is already reached. And we know the risks associated with very sweet and high-calorie foods: weight gain, risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease...

In addition to sugar and calories, bubble tea often contains a long list of chemical additives, including colorings, preservatives, flavorings, and sweeteners. Que Choisir magazine, which conducted the investigation into these drinks, " had never seen such off-putting ingredient lists ." As a result, "all bubble teas are ultra-processed foods," Mathilde Touvier, a researcher at Inserm, told 60 Million Consumers .

It has been proven that "a higher consumption of foods described as ultra-processed is associated with a higher risk of mortality and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, overweight, obesity, cardioneurovascular diseases, breast cancer and colorectal cancer" , according to ANSES (the French National Agency for Food Safety). So it is better to limit the consumption of bubble tea, like all sugary drinks and other processed foods, and to favor raw and homemade foods.