Rishi Tea is not only committed to directly sourcing wonderful organic teas and botanicals, but they are committed to the health and well being of their customers. We are all more than ever aware as consumers what we put in our bodies, and the last thing we want to worry about is plastic leaching into our tea. Yikes! 

Rishi tea bags are made from a plant-based material called polylactic acid (or PLA for short). PLA is an inert, DNA-free material that is produced by breaking down starches found in plant sources. Through this process, no plant DNA is left behind, making these hypoallergenic and allergen-free. PLA is NOT derived from petroleum and will not leak harmful plasticizers into your brew. True to our sourcing ethics and to help showcase Rishi’s high-quality teas and botanicals, this material is purposefully sourced to provide you and your family with the safest and most delicious cup of tea! 

Biodegradable: PLA tea bags are designed to biodegrade in a high heat, commercial quality composting systems. This means conditions need to achieve at least 120°F, and 80% relative humidity for a sustained amount of time (about 2 months). This material will not breakdown in your cup of tea, even if left for many hours or days.  

No glues, staples or metals: To help facilitate a biodegradable product, Rishi tea bags have a cotton string and printed-paper tag, only. This material is attached to the PLA mesh using ultrasonic+ high-heat vibrational energy. Pretty cool! 

Give me the data: We’re glad you asked! Many organic food advocates, bloggers, rival tea companies and other sources have made statements based on ideas and assumptions that silky tea bags contain petroleum-based plastic or nylon and are unsafe. Rishi felt it was time to take responsibility and set the record straight for the tea industry with scientific data and authentic testing results for actual PLA mesh material used for our silky tea bags. 

Lab Tested: Rishi worked with an independent lab in Houston, one of the leading labs that tests for plastics in food products, to test both our PLA standard knit and special knit tea bag materials. We tested for BPA and commonly found plasticizers and phthalates that contaminate the global food supply. Our PLA mesh was tested using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), a technique that allowed the lab to analyze the chemical composition of PLA in its entirety. This testing method has a detectable limit of 2 ppm for most of the phthalates we looked for, and of 3 ppm for two of the phthalates. 

Both PLA special knit and standard knit materials passed with flying colors. None of the phthalates Rishi tested for were detected, even in trace amounts. This indicates that the PLA mesh used in Rishi tea bags is completely BPA-free and phthalate-free. The United States Consumer Products Safety Commission (USCPSC) specifies that food products are deemed safe when they test below 1,000 ppm for the plasticizers we checked. With results of no detection, PLA goes well beyond the conditions required to comply with USCPSC standards. 

It should be noted that there are several data reports showing that the common petroleum-based nylon and polyester silky tea bags on the market leach plastics, but our PLA material for tea bags is a different material and is not petroleum based. PLA based tea bags should not be linked to reports or tests of unrelated materials.