Carcinogenic substances found in coffee: Only one coffee brand performs well in the Ökotest comparison
Created: 2022-01-24Updated: 2022-01-24, 4:47 p.m
By: Juliane Gutmann
A fine coffee awakens the spirits - but by no means all types of coffee in the supermarket are recommended.
© Eva Blanco/Imago
Coffee contains valuable plant substances and caffeine makes it the ultimate pick-me-up.
But Ökotest found questionable ingredients in too many products.
Do you enjoy a morning cup of coffee every day? After the midday slump you slurp an espresso and the afternoon slump can only be overcome thanks to coffee? Many positive health effects are attributed to the drink made from ground coffee beans.
It is said to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke
. According to various studies, coffee can also reduce the risk of developing liver cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer's. And coffee is even said to have a life-prolonging effect, according to Hungarian researchers.
Coffee is even effective as a pain reliever
: “Caffeine constricts the blood vessels, which in the short term leads to faster blood flow and high blood pressure.
At the same time, the oxygen supply in the cells increases,” explains Hartmut Göbel, Head of the Pain Clinic in Kiel.
In this way, the caffeine contained in coffee also inhibits headaches.
But as with many foods, the same applies to coffee:
quality matters
.
The consumer magazine Ökotest tested this – and came to frightening results.
Only one ground coffee was rated "good".
Coffee in the test: Only one product is recommended
Ground coffee was tested.
Ökotest compared 20 products from (organic) supermarkets and discounters.
A first conclusion of the "Ökotester" sounds sobering: "Problems that we encountered in the coffee test:
pollutants suspected of being carcinogenic and a lack of efforts to protect human rights and environmental protection
in the producing countries.
As a result, almost half of the ground coffees fail the test - including well-known brands.
Only one product is recommended with "good".
According to Ökotest, the proven, carcinogenic ingredient is acrylamide, which can be produced when the coffee beans are roasted.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assigns the pollutant to the potentially cancer risk-increasing substances.
The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment also warns: "
Since acrylamide has mutagenic and carcinogenic potential
and no safe consumption level can be derived, ways must be found to reduce the acrylamide concentration in food as much as possible".
In 13 of 20 coffee products tested, Ökotest classified the acrylamide content as too high.
The values are still within the framework of the EU directive, but in the higher range.
In addition, Ökotest criticizes the furan and methylfurans contained in some products because, according to the European Food Safety Authority, these can damage the liver in the long term.
In animal experiments, high furand doses even produced cancer, according to the Ökotest report.
More on the topic:
Lots of coffee, small breasts?
Researchers found out what effect coffee consumption can have on bust size
Survey on coffee consumption
Test winner is an organic product - well-known brands do very poorly
According to Ökotest, acrylamide and/or furans were found in every coffee, which also explains the poor performance of many manufacturers.
The following products were among the losers, as reported by the sustainability portal Utopia.de, among others:
Dallmayr Classic;
Ökotest rating "inadequate"
Eduscho Gala by Tchibo;
Ökotest rating "inadequate"
Jacobs coronation;
Ökotest rating "inadequate"
Express coffee from Darboven;
Ökotest rating "insufficient"
As the only product with the rating "good", the following coffee is considered the test winner:
Fair Pound organic coffee ground by Gepa (promotional link)*
(jg) *affiliate link
