A cuppa full of muck!

Refuse Tea is the matter thrown away as worthless, after having extracted the last drop of moisture content of the tea leaf and the valuable properties. Another word for this refuse tea is ‘muck’.

During the British period when tea estates were managed by the Sterling Companies this refuse tea was converted into compost manure on each estate, with the addition of waste oil and other chemicals. This compost manure was used for the young tea plants and the vegetable cultivation of the superintendents and staff. This practice prevented unscrupulous businessmen selling this 'muck' to the public as good tea.

After the nationalization of the tea estates, the new company managements are concerned about obtaining the maximum profit from whatever sources available in these estates.

As these estates produce a good amount of refuse tea daily the new managements sell all this to local tea mudalalis for good money. This is being processed, with all sorts of chemicals, and is then sold in the market. This is what we mostly drink today as good tea.

If the medical authorities conduct a laboratory test on this tea and expose the impurities present in it, it would be of great help to the public.

By D.S. Badulla