Decaf Coffee: Is Your Choice Safe?

This article on the safety of decaf coffee is part of a campaign (#DetoxYourDecaf) with The Clean Label Project. As always, all opinions are my own.

I have adored a good cup of coffee for years. Like many students, it became a drink of choice for energy. A cup to start my day (with plenty of creamer if I got it at the cafeteria!)

When I moved to a northern climate, I found myself wanting several cups a day. Both the flavor and the warmth were my “why”.

Now that I’m in the deep south, an afternoon treat is iced coffee. I just adore the flavor profile.

But, having multiple cups of regular coffee was too much caffeine. So, I started making that second or third cup from decaffeinated coffee beans.

I thought it was the healthy choice.

What I didn’t know is that many companies use chemicals in the decaffeination process. Chemicals none of us should want to ingest.

Enter the Clean Label Project to my life (and now yours!)

About The Clean Label Project & #DetoxYourDecaf

The Clean Label Project is a non-profit with the ultimate goal of helping consumers know more about the products they are buying and using.

Specifically, they raise awareness about the presence of potentially dangerous environmental contaminants and toxins in everyday consumer products.

Truth and transparency in food and consumer product labeling is what they seek. That way each of us can make a more informed decision on what to buy and use.

For this particular article, I am focusing upon the potential dangers of decaf coffee. However, they have more on the website on other common goods that you can read.

Methylene Chloride: A Danger Lurking in Some Decaf Coffee

As I said, the process of decaffinating coffee beans is sometimes done through the use of chemicals.

The chemical of concern is Methylene Chloride.

Know where you used find this chemical before the EPA banned it?

Paint strippers.

The FDA currently allows methylene chloride to be used in the coffee decaffeination process and brands are not required to disclose which decaffeination process they use on their labels.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Without a group, like the Clean Label Project, testing common brands, you have no way of knowing whether the decaf coffee you bought was processed using a solvent.

Because there is another way to remove caffeine from coffee beans, using water.

Why the concern?

Because those individuals most likely to opt for decaf coffee as the healthier choice are the same ones at considered a more vulnerable population. This includes pregnant women, the elderly, and people with heart disease.

How You Can #DetoxYourDecaf

Having totaly control over the process isn’t something the average consumer will aspire towards when it comes to coffee. People do not just start growing and processing coffee beans in their backyard.

Instead, we have to rely upon organizations like the Clean Label Project to do the investigation and testing. Which they have done so we can enjoy a cup of decaf coffee without worrying about which process was used or levels of chemical residue on the beans.

Here’s what they found when they tested 25 popular brands:

If your favorite brand isn’t here, a simple way to avoid chemical residue is to purchase certified organic coffee.

Also, you can reach out to your favorite brands to let them know your concern. It is really upon the consumer to demand chemical-free decaffeinated coffee (as well as truth in labeling)

This infographic should help that process.