Teenager Gets Sick Possibly Due to Indigestible Bubble Tea Pearls

A 14-year old girl from China was brought to the Zhejiang Zhuji City People’s Hospital after experiencing abdominal pain and constipation for days to the point that her stomach got swollen.

Based on the report issued by the Chinese news site The Paper, after scanning the girl’s abdomen area, there were a lot of small circular matters that filled her stomach to her colon and anus.





Zhang Lou Wei, the Physician of the girl asked her what she had been eating.  The girl answered that she had eaten bubble tea five days ago.

Photo by: The Paper

Zhang Lou Wei believes that the circular matters found on the organs of the teenage girl may have been the pearls from the bubble tea that the girl had consumed. However, the doctor also suspects that the pearls found on her organs may have been pearls which had accumulated over time from her regular consumption of bubble tea with pearls.

Yu Ling, the head of the Zhuji City People’s Hospital’s emergency department, stated that tapioca pearls are difficult to digest. Also, there is a possibility that some of its manufacturers could add some additives and thickeners which will give the pearls its chewiness consistencies. Pearls which had undergone such processes could be dangerous to any person’s digestive tract when taken in large quantities.

Another suspected cause of the sickness of the teenage girl could a heavy metal poisoning. It may have been caused by the heavy metals that accumulated on the girl’s body.
As of now, further study is yet to be conducted to determine the specific cause of the sickness of the teenage girl. She had been given a laxative medicine by her doctor.