The consumer magazine Öko-Test took a closer look at a total of 20 filter coffees.
Almost half of them failed, only one product was rated “good”.
Frankfurt - Coffee is an everyday companion for many people, for some it is almost an addiction.
Espresso, cappuccino, latte macchiato, “black” - people consume it in all kinds of variations.
It is estimated that more than two billion cups are drunk worldwide every day.
Alongside the USA and Brazil, Germany is among the top 3 countries for coffee consumers.
The consumer
magazine Öko-Test
has now tested ground coffee.
The results are sometimes terrifying.
Filter coffee in the "Öko-Test": content of substances suspected of being cancerous in 13 of 20 products "increased"
In
its test,
Öko-Test
examined a total of 20 products from (organic) supermarkets and discounters such as Aldi, Edeka and Kaufland. According to the magazine, “particularly strong-selling brands” were taken into account. The result: only one product was rated “good” and is therefore recommended. Around half of the filter coffee products tested failed the test. "There are two main reasons for this: pollutants suspected of being cancerous and a lack of efforts to protect human rights and environmental protection in the production countries," said
Öko-Test
.
“Many of the coffees in the test have a problem with acrylamide and furan,” the magazine also wrote.
Two pollutants that arise when roasting coffee.
According to the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa), acrylamide has the potential to increase the risk of cancer.
According to Efsa, furan damages the liver in the long term and, in animal experiments, also caused cancer in high doses.
In a total of 13 of the 20 products tested, the content of the two substances was rated as "increased".
Filter coffee in the "Öko-Test": conditions in the cultivation in the criticism - taste as a ray of hope
Another problem: grievances in the cultivation of coffee.
"Human rights violations and illegal destruction of forests at the expense of the climate," emphasizes
Öko-Test in
particular.
Only six providers were able to make the supply chain of their coffee completely transparent and prove it in the test.
In addition, none of the providers could safely rule out deforestation.
In terms of taste, more than half of the products tested were convincing.
However, the sensory experts from Öko-Test only gave some products the marks “satisfactory” or “sufficient”.
The filter coffee “Rösta Classic Strong” from Norma's own brand came out worst on this point with “poor”.
According to the auditors, it smelled old and tasted coarse and without aroma.
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Öko-Test tested ground coffee.
(Symbol image)
© Dusan Zidar / IMAGO
Filter coffee in the "Öko-Test": One winner - many losers
The only product that
received an overall rating of “good”
according to the
Öko-Test
is “Faires pound of organic coffee from fair trade, ground” from the Gepa brand (8.49 euros for 500 grams).
It was also the best of the six organic products.
Eight ground coffee products were rated “poor”: In addition to the above-mentioned Norma product, they also included branded products such as “Dallmayr Classic”, “Jacobs Krönung” and “Mövenpick - Heavenly”.
Öko-Test
particularly criticized the point of growing coffee.
The absolute loser in the test with the grade “unsatisfactory” is “Eilles Coffee Gourmet”.
In addition to the coffee cultivation, the testers criticized too high acrylamide and furan values.
In addition, the taste of the filter coffee was only mediocre.
(ph)
List of rubric lists: © Dusan Zidar