Taiwanese love bubble tea, especially in hot weather when many shops offer &ldquobuy-one-get-one&rdquo or half-price second cup deals. Many people refrigerate unfinished drinks to consume the next day, but doctors warn that this habit may introduce a large amount of bacteria into your body!

Renowned surgeon Dr. Chiang Kun-Chun points out that once you &ldquosip&rdquo a drink and leave it standing, bacteria may quickly multiply. A Japanese TV show experiment on &ldquoGetsuyō Yoru Miō&rdquo found that coffee milk left at room temperature for 24 hours saw bacterial counts explode from 600 to over 5.17 million&mdashan 8,000-fold increase! The sugar and protein in the drink create a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.A drink that's been sipped and left at room temperature until the next day may contain 400 times more bacteria than a toilet! (Photo: photo-ac)

Even if refrigerated, bacteria may grow more slowly but are not entirely eliminated. Dr. Chiang recommends pouring your drink into a cup to reduce contamination risk from your mouth touching the container opening. If you can&rsquot finish it, seal it tightly and refrigerate immediately.

Many fear that overnight tea might cause cancer, but Taiwan&rsquos Food and Drug Administration clarifies that no research confirms this. However, tannins released in overnight tea may irritate the stomach and cause diarrhea. It&rsquos recommended to finish tea drinks within 1&ndash2 hours of opening if they taste off, show bubbles, or look cloudy, discard them immediately.It's best to finish tea drinks within 1 to 2 hours after opening. (Photo: photo-ac)

We drink more in summer, so safety matters even more-adopt good storage and drinking habits to avoid consuming harmful bacteria and protect your health.