PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2019-06-19 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Does an X-Ray Show Hundreds of Bubble Tea Pearls in a Teen's Stomach? (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • In June 2019, an X-ray image supposedly showing hundreds of bubble tea pearls in a 14-year-old girl started circulating on social media: Bubble tea, also known as boba, is a Taiwanese tea-based drink filled with chewy pearls that are typically made from tapioca. The above-displayed image supposedly revealed hundreds of such pearls in the teen's stomach. The image was originally published in Chinese-language news outlets such as Shaoxing News and The Paper in early June 2019. Here's an excerpt from an English-language report published in Asian One: Despite the credible origins of this story, many viewers (and a few doctors) were skeptical about what this image showed. The experts who weighed in on the matter were less concerned with whether the image was doctored (we saw no red flags to indicate that this X-ray was digitally manipulated) and more curious about how tapioca pearls showed up on the CT scan. Dr. Lina Felipez, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, told Live Science that tapioca balls certainly could cause constipation. However, Felipez noted that tapioca, and even common additives such as guar gum, wouldn't show up on a CT scan: Dr. Vladimir M. Kushnir, an associate professor of medicine at Washington University and a spokesman for the American Gastroenterological Association, had a similar opinion. Kushnir told us via email that if this X-ray truly showed bubble tea pearls, they likely contained an additional additive uncommon in the United States: This X-ray is authentic and appears to show at least a hundred bubble tea pearls blocking the digestive tract of a 14-year-old girl in China. What these particular bubble tea pearls were made of, however, is unclear. It's possible that they contained some sort of inedible material. Reports exist of unsafe additives being found in boba pearls over the years, as the Wall Street Journal reported in 2013: While this image may be real, it doesn't show a common result of drinking bubble tea. This X-ray appears to show an extreme case involving an excessive amount of bubble tea and boba pearls possibly made with unsafe additives. Kashnir added: I would reassure readers that 1-2 glasses of bubble tea are perfectly safe. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url