Does decaf coffee contain a harmful additive? Advocates want to ban a certain chemical in the brew Nicholas Florko By Nicholas Florko March 28, 2024

https://www.statnews.com/2024/03/28/decaf-coffee-fda-food-safety-challenge-methylene-chloride/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=300173672&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--CqrJk3f8F3-FqFq02zAD_nJ5f9h1IQieBk8lVZ0JfUh4DKbzYV5vYlvdXbK6L_2_GJ1bPAbQbycxsOsUGfY_237Mddg&utm_content=300173672&utm_source=hs_email Could the FDA ban decaf? If consumer health advocates get their way, the FDA will ban a key chemical used to decaffeinate coffee beans that is almost but not entirely removed during the process. Methylene chloride, a since-banned paint stripper, is used by major coffee U.S. companies including Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and Folgers. In its petition the Environmental Defense Fund says a 66-year-old federal law requires the agency to ban the additive because it has been proven to cause cancer in rodents. The FDA estimated in 1985 that the risk of cancer for decaf drinkers was one in a million. “There’s more methylene chloride in the water that you brew your decaf with than came with the decaf roasted beans,” said James Coughlin, a food toxicology consultant to the coffee industry. “It’s not as if there’s no good substitute,” said Maria Doa, of the Environmental Defense Fund. STAT’s Nicholas Florko has the details and the history.