Should Your Coffee Come with a Cancer Warning?
California coffee shops may soon have to display a sign warning people that coffee carries a potential health risk. Coffee contains some acrylamide, a possible carcinogen. What is acrylamide, why is it in coffee, and is coffee really dangerous?
There’s never a dull moment for wellness enthusiasts. Just
as we started to get used to thinking about coffee as a health elixir,
media outlets are again flooded with a sense of alarm.
The latest: California coffee shops may soon have to display a sign warning people that coffee carries a potential health risk.
Under California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65, businesses must give customers a “clear and reasonable warning” about the presence of agents that affect health. A lawsuit alleges
that coffee companies (such as Starbucks and 7-Eleven) failed to warn
customers about the presence of a substance considered a possible
carcinogen in their coffee: acrylamide.
What is acrylamide and why is it in coffee?
The chemical acrylamide, which is used in industrial processes, was first detected in food in 2002.
The Swedish National Food Administration and the University of
Stockholm reported that acrylamide was present in many foods, including
snack foods, deep fried food, bread and coffee. Acrylamide was not
found in any raw foods, and further investigation found that acrylamide
formed during high-temperature processing through a reaction known as
the Maillard reaction between sugars and certain amino acids.
This
finding led to lots of research centered on the chemistry of acrylamide
formation. Many parameters affect it, from processing temperature,
acidity and water content, to the chemical composition of the raw
ingredients, which change from one cultivar to the next, and depend on a
myriad of factors, from the weather during the growing season to the
exact time of harvest. Needless to say, it’s very hard to assess the
exact quantity of acrylamide in a person’s diet.
Acrylamide
has potential toxic effects, including carcinogenic effects on
experimental animals exposed to large doses of the chemical. Humans,
though, absorb and metabolize acrylamide differently than rats, and are
exposed to much lower doses.
When it comes to humans, a clear conclusion about acrylamide’s potential toxicity is difficult to reach. A review of 41 studies of dietary exposure to acrylamide
found that due to lack of uniformity of exposure measurements and many
other limitations, the risk of cancer due to acrylamide intake is
unclear.
The
Food and Drug Association (FDA) has not advised people at this time to
stop eating products that contain acrylamide, and has not established
safe and unsafe acrylamide levels in foods. Acrylamide is, however,
classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in
Group 2A — a probable carcinogen
A little bit about IARC’s classifications:
Class
1 lists known human carcinogens. This notorious list includes
cigarettes, which I’m sure you’ve guessed, and also processed meats and
alcoholic beverages. It also includes some types of human papilloma
virus (HPV), secondhand smoking, and sun exposure.
In
the 2A class — which acrylamide is listed in — one can find red meat,
drinking very hot beverages, being a shift worker, exposure to high
temperature frying.
Looking at the IARC list one realizes that life, alas, is full of risk, and the IARC list only reflects the threat of cancer.
California’s Prop 65 informs restaurant goers
about the risks of alcohol, mercury (in fish), acrylamide (highest
amount in French fries) BPA, lead and more; meat’s not on the list. And
Prop 65 warnings are only about cancer, reproductive harm and birth
defects.
We didn’t even get to the risk of traffic accidents, violence and slipping on ice on the way to the restaurant.
Almost
every human action or inaction carries some risk, and one needs some
perspective and wisdom in order to carry on with a happy life and not be
bogged down by foreboding information.
Do coffee shops warrant a warning?
Consumers
do have a right to know, but when the warnings are too frequent and too
broad, one just becomes numb. I, for one, do not want my car to remind
me that I’m risking my life every time I need to drive — although it’s
factual information. I need to get places. And I need to eat.
And coffee’s one of the better drinks out there.
“More concentrated research needs to be done in order to strike coffee with this harsh label,” says registered dietitian Tracy Lockwood Beckerman.
“There are many benefits that coffee has unto the body, such as
providing essential antioxidants and even possibly lowering the risk of
type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Damming coffee may cause
people to look towards other, unhealthier morning rituals such as an
increase in orange juice and sugary beverages, which we know are clearly linked to an increased risk of diabetes and obesity.”
Prop 65 requirements are much stricter than other US laws, suggests Dr. Barry Sears.
“Under this law, high-end chocolate makers are currently being sued
since their products exceed the levels mandated by California law.
Canned tuna containing mercury and fish oil capsules containing PCBs
beyond the limits mandated by Prop 65 are also under examination.”
“There
are presently many uncertainties about the health impacts of acrylamide
in food, says family practitioner and integrative physician Dr. Michael Carlston.
“Levels 500 times what we consume in foods can cause nerve toxicity.
Cancers can be caused by low-level long-term exposures to many
substances. In theory that may possibly include acrylamides. Coffee is
under fire as a source of acrylamides. It is always worthwhile to
reappraise old habits in light of new information. However, our
knowledge of other compounds in coffee as well as studies looking at the
“bottom line” are reassuring about the relative safety and even the
health benefits of coffee.”
Dr.
Carlston picked up the coffee habit later in life — for health
reasons — he discloses. “Coffee consumption accounts for 60% of
Americans intake of polyphenols. Polyphenols are perhaps the most health
protective class of chemicals in our food. Polyphenols give veggies and
fruits much of their color. Although many people have heard of the
benefits of one polyphenol (resveratrol) their impact is far greater.
For example, research shows that controlling for other known risks,
people who consume the highest levels of polyphenols lower their risk of
heart disease by 50%. The findings for cancer are similar. Many studies
from Scandinavia and the Greek Isles — whose population has the highest
coffee consumption in the world — show dramatically lower rates of
cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, and cardiovascular disease,” Dr.
Carlston adds.
A few tips for cutting acrylamide exposure from food:
- Cut on fried food: Deep fried food had lots of extra calories, so acrylamide is just another reason to make French fries an infrequent treat
- Don’t over-toast: Aim for light brown when toasting bread
- Eat fewer crunchy processed snacks: It’s hard to say exactly how much acrylamide is in each and every one of the chips, crackers and biscuits out there, but these are among the foods that have the highest range of acrylamide, and they’re foods we should eat in moderation anyway.
- Coffee: Its levels of acrylamide aren’t anywhere near those of French fries, but in case you’re interested in lowering your exposure, Arabica beans have less acrylamide than Robusta beans, roasted coffee of all kinds has less than instant coffee, espresso coffee has less than other brewing methods, and, counter intuitively, the lighter the bean roast the more acrylamide in the coffee (light roast more acrylamide than medium, medium more than dark).
I, personally, will continue to enjoy my coffee. There’s only so much I chose to worry about.
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