Fraudulent coffee filler: Another great reason to buy whole beans
People have been adulterating coffee for hundreds of years, sometimes openly (think Cafe du Monde and other chicory-laced coffee) and sometimes surreptitiously (in the late 19th century, fraudsters added everything from dirt and dog biscuits to lead and cyanide to coffee).
But we're past those dark times right? Not exactly. A 2012 study in the Journal of Food Science found that coffee is one of the top 7 adulterated foods (along with olive oil, milk, honey, and orange and apple juice, and saffron). Unscrupulous coffee vendors mix in corn, soybean, potato flour, and brown sugar, among other additives, Michael Silverberg writes at Quartz. And the usual coffee-purity tests are unexpectedly primitive — largely taste and smell.
Researchers in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, have come up with a new test to detect impurities in ground coffee. The procedure, presented at the American Chemical Society's upcoming meeting, uses liquid chromatography and promises to detect additives quickly and with 95 percent accuracy. (The National Coffee Association says the warnings about additives are vastly overblown.) So if this test takes off, great. But you could avoid the risk almost entirely by buying whole coffee beans and grinding them yourself.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump gets $289M break, first criminal trial date
Speed Read The former president's fraud bond has been reduced to $175 million from $464 million
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - March 26, 2024
Cartoons Tuesday's cartoons - the House GOP abandon ship, Joe Biden sets his stall, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published