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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled there is no credible scientific evidence that drinking green tea reduces the risk of heart disease, rejecting a petition that sought to allow tea labels to make that claim.
"FDA concludes there is no credible evidence to support qualified health claims for green tea or green tea extract and a reduction of a number of risk factors associated with CVD" or cardiovascular disease, Barbara O. Schneeman, director of the agency's Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling and Dietary Supplements, wrote in a letter denying the petition.
The FDA said it reviewed 105 articles and other publications submitted as part of a petition by Ito En Ltd., a Japanese company that claims to be the world's largest green tea company, and its U.S. subsidiary, Ito En (North America) Inc., but could find no evidence to support claims of green tea's health benefits.
Ito En Ltd. and Ito En (North America) Inc.petitioned the FDA in June 2005, seeking to make the claim that drinking at least five ounces of green tea a day may reduce the risk of heart disease.
The belief that drinking green tea -- brewed from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, also known as Thea sinensis -- confers health benefits has driven its popularity over the last decade.
The FDA previously has found that green tea likely does not reduce breast cancer, prostate cancer or any other type of cancer risk.
Source: Medical Week Staff week of May 10, 2006
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