Pyramid shaped tea bags are superior to other types, according to the Advertising Standards Agency.
The British agency has ruled that it is the pyramid bag which is more effective in that it allows the leaves to better infuse the tea.
The matter was provoked with Tata Global Beverages, the makers of Tetley, complained to the ASA about a TV advert for PG Tips which shows the “brewing power” of its pyramid tea bag.
Tetley claimed the ad exaggerated the performance of the tea bag and was misleading.
But the ASA thought otherwise. It said that tests from Unilever, the owner of PG Tips, showed that “the infusion of tea, at 2:40 minutes into brewing, was greater when using a pyramid tea bag than when using a round tea bag.”
It did not believe that the public would misconstrue the ad as a detailed scientific test.
"We therefore concluded that the ad did not exaggerate the capability and performance of the advertised product and was not misleading,” it said.
The brewing times of 40 seconds and two minutes were set as consumer research had shown them to be the two 'top brewing times' for the majority of Brits, who down some 165 million cups each day making the market worth nearly £500m a year just in Britain.
Round tea bags were launched in 1989 by Tetley while pyramid ones were invented in 1997 by Brooke Bond which was then the parent company of PG Tips.
So, tea lovers, now you know and remember, this was the decision of a British agency and not a body of the EU.
