This has happened to me several times recently, I opened up a large bottle of tea that I bought at the grocery store and notice there is mold floating at the top of it. The brand in particular that this has been happening with is Gold Peak Tea. At first I thought perhaps it was a bit of ice floating at the top since we keep bottles of this in our garage and it was freezing outside. I went to scoop it out with my finger and it was soft, not hard like ice - that's when I realized it was mold. I took it back to the store to exchange it for another one, but when I started looking at some of the other bottles I saw mold floating in the top of them as well, so I got something else instead. Seems kind of odd for this to be happening in a commercial product like that, especially considering that it's sealed.
It's kinda gross to see that! I'm pretty sure it's not healthy to have stuff like molds in your tea. Did you try calling the Tea company about it?
If all the bottles are showing signs of mold it may well that an entire batch was infected. Perhaps it was the bottles, perhaps the sterilization cycle failed to fully click through. I don't know, but someone should inform them of this development before someone should take sick.
That is something I have never experienced but I am sure I would never drink it if I saw this mold or any kind of mold. There is surely some kind of fungus or some kind of bacteria growing inside it so I would definitely recommend staying away from it.
Wow... that's disgusting. Esperahol is right, it's probably the entire batch that's infected. You'll probably get a manufacturer's coupon if you call the tea company. This has happened to my husband before where he bought a soda at a convenience store that was sudsy and tasted like soap, and when he exchanged it for another one that one also was sudsy and tasted like soap. He called the soda company and they gave him a free coupon.
I usually make my own tea using tea bags but occasionally do buy bottled tea. I have not found mold in any that I have bought but will be keeping a closer eye out for it now. Like the others have said, I would try to contact the company. Not only could you get a coupon but you may also prevent anyone else from drinking tea that might make them sick. My kids used to drink a lot of bottled teas and I am sure kids would not look out for mold before drinking it.
I would also assume that the entire stock or batch of that tea was affected. Maybe they did not store it right, that's why molds have grown on them. I think that you should just avoid that particular brand in the future just to be safe.
I'm not surprised at all. With the amount any company ships out, there are bound to be bad batches or contaminated batches. Have you heard any stories of what "accidentally" falls into our processed foods due to bored, angry or hungover (etc etc etc) workers? It's enough to make you sick. More often than not, when we leave our food at the hands of the big guys, we're ingesting things that would otherwise have us hurling. Same with restaurants (fast or not). This is why I like to eat at home and buy fresh foods.. I know what I'm eating lol. Just feel lucky you were able to see the mold..
That is so disgusting....ugh. I haven't had that happen but will keep an eye out now. The things that end up in food and drink sometimes can really make people incredibly ill .
I do not know how a whole batch of tea got through the handeling process. But obviously it did. I would go back to the store and make sure they take them all off the shelves. This type of thing can not only make someone very sick it has the potential to kill someone. The manufacturer or bottling plant needs to be held accountable for this. And I wonder why the stock people at the store did not notice all the teas were bad. But either way this is completely unacceptable. I would be on the phone calling the company myself if it was me.
Have you tried informing the management of the store about it? They must be aware of that, if on the onset they are not at all aware. It could be contamination of sorts and everybody is right when they say that the whole batch could have the same thing. This does not only affect the supposedly good reputation of Gold Peak, it may also affect the reputation of the store as well. Management of grocery stores must always be on the lookout on what problems they might have encountered to avoid the effect on their sales. It also avoids getting the contaminated tea from getting into the hands of other customers. The management should have done some control on that, shall they know of what the problem is.
Ewwww! I have never heard of the that brand of tea. It sounds like there's was a problem at during the bottling process. A recall is definitely in order. I hope nobody gets ill from the tea especially a kid. I would call the company myself at let them know about the problem. If they are involved in social media, Twitter is a good way to let them know too.
