The Sri Lankan government says it opposes plans by local tea industry to create a global blending hub on the island. The move comes after several major packers and producers put forward plans to blend highly regarded local tea with lower-quality imported leaves. They claim that import liberalization would benefit from local blending talent and fast shipping connections, and would allow Sri Lanka to become a key link in the global tea supply chain. However, government officials seem more concerned about maintaining local tea's reputation in export markets. They hope that phasing out imports will ensure superior quality and strengthen the "pure Ceylon tea" brand. Last year, Sri Lanka exported 322 million kilograms of tea, including 22 million kilos of imported tea.

Unilever, the company behind PG Tips and Lipton tea brands, is launching an advertising campaign to promote tea bag recycling. It is estimated that tea bags are the largest form of unavoidable food waste in the UK and produce 370,000 tones of waste every year. The campaign will encourage people to ensure that tea bags, which are made mostly of organic material, are recycled after use with the rest of the household waste. The company is working with a couple of local councils and a government-backed waste agency on its latest initiative to inform and educate consumers, which is part of Unilever's ambitious goal of halving the landfill waste within eight years. The Brits drink over 60 billion of cups of tea per year.

A recent study from Harvard Medical School suggests that consumption of flavanoids could help prevent the formation of blood clots in arteries and veins. Flavanoids are compounds commonly found in fruits, vegetables and tea. According to researchers, a popular flavanoid called rutin has the potential to prevent and treat stroke and heart attacks, as well as deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. It acts by inhibiting clot formation both in arteries and in veins, which possesses different features in both cases, thereby enabling a single agent to prevent both types of clots. Scientists plan to follow up on these findings with a clinical trial.