Standards of Selenium-rich Tea Implemented in Hubei and Some Provinces in China

Establishment of official standards for selenium-rich tea products, like any merchandise, is essential for a flourishing industry built with an orderly market. With fair and just regulations that guarantee product quality and protect consumer rights in place, healthy and continual business advancements can then be expected. Not surprisingly, as a major production region in China of the increasingly popular tea product, Hubei Province ridding on the fame of one of its cities being designated as "The World Capital of Selenium," Enshi, has rolled out the first standards in the nation on organic selenium-rich teas. In pioneering the endeavor, it is inevitable that imperfections exist in the system. In reference to what has been established by Shaanxi, Guizhou, and Anhui provinces, there are rooms for improvements on the platform established in Hubei. This article highlights the outstanding shortcomings in the presently implemented standards and presents plausible strategies for solutions in the future. It was hoped that a unified national protocol for standardizing and regulating production, marketing, and developing high-quality selenium-rich tea products would materialize to help usher in the new era for the industry.