PLEASURE, spirituality, relaxation, tradition - tea more than just a drink. People across the world enjoy it for different reasons.

Drinking tea is an age old tradition said to date back to southwest China in 27 BC. Since then tea traditions around the world have developed their own unique flavours and tea cultures.

Speaking of tea traditions, do you rinse or not rinse the tea bag first before making a cup of tea?

Television presenter and radio personality Anele Mdoda has sparked a heated social media debate after questioning people who wash tea bags before using them.

Taking to X, Mdoda wrote: “What’s this about washing your teabags before you use them?”

What’s this about washing your teabags before you use them?
— Anele Mdoda (@Anele) April 5, 2024

The post quickly garnered a lot of likes, views, retweets, and comments with many questioning this technique of making a mug or pot of tea.

@Siya_Ndlumbini wrote: “Normal people don't do that, yhoo”.

@HairpyCrown wrote: “It honestly tastes better and fresher after the wash. Tea bags have dust.”

@munri_tar commented: “If they don’t come in single wrapped packs, I wash them.” While @marcia_breeze wrote: “Adulthood is wild, there is always some form of experiment or life hack or whatever people call it.”

@KeleDimple said: “Had an aunt with OCD, she said tea bags have dust so you need to remove that first before you brew it.”

Judging from the many comments that we have seen since the time of publication, it is evident that washing a tea bag before use is news to many people and is quite a “shocking thing to do”.

Not just tea bags! YouTubers Joey Wellness and Dominic DeAngelis recently sparked debate over whether or not to wash chicken before cooking it.

This comes after Wellness and DeAngelis took to social media to prepare chicken in two ways (washed and unwashed) to taste the different results between the two.

Their video sparked debate over whether or not chicken should be washed before it is cooked.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joey Wellness (@joey_wellness)

Despite the overwhelming number of individuals who argued raw poultry needs to be rinsed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) once advised consumers against it.

The CDC issued an emphatic reminder to home cooks about how to prevent food poisoning while cooking chicken.

"Don't wash your raw chicken!" the organisation tweeted in 2019. "Washing can spread germs from the chicken to other food or utensils in the kitchen."

"We didn’t mean to get you all hot about not washing your chicken!" the CDC wrote in a follow-up tweet.

"But it’s true: kill germs by cooking chicken thoroughly, not washing it. You shouldn’t wash any poultry, meat, or eggs before cooking. They can all spread germs around your kitchen. Don’t wing food safety!"

#anele-mdoda

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