I just bought green tea leaves in China. They were in a deep freezer when I bought them. They were then in my luggage for a few days on my way back home.
I bought a fair amount of them. Can I now re-freeze at home? Or, like food, is it dangerous to re-freeze green tea leaves?
The concern with food is that if the food spends too much time above the danger temperature (40°F) then bacteria may grow, and if you then freeze it the bacteria will be there waiting to harm the final consumer. However, the USDA says that food thawed in a refrigerator for less than a few days can be safely refrozen.
Assuming these leaves are dry, this doesn't apply here: things won't grow on the tea while it's warm, and freezing won't lock in anything dangerous. So, freeze away.
You can definitely refreeze it. Green tea, especially fresh ones, should be kept frozen to preserve the flavour and aroma. Most people don't do this though. It's completely fine to refreeze it after they're unfrozen, especially since you didn't open them, so no humidity has entered. Do make sure it's well sealed when you refreeze.
Also consider splitting the tea in different smaller bags. Every time you take the bag out of the freezer and open, it will loose some freshness. Repacking the tea in smaller bags allows you to enjoy the tea for longer.
