Many Hong Kong people are accustomed to drinking coffee in the morning to refresh themselves. The Consumer Council tested 49 coffee products on the market and found that more than 95% of the samples tested contained the genetic carcinogen acrylamide, but only two did not.
The Consumer Council pointed out that the instant coffee powder is extracted and concentrated, so the acrylamide content is higher than that of coffee beans, coffee capsules, and coffee powder. Among them, Taster's Choice (Nestle) Original Soluble under Nescafé Coffee, which detected 790 micrograms of acrylamide per kilogram, was the highest among all samples; the second was Tesco's Gold- Rich & smooth freeze dried instant coffee (roasted for deep flavour, with a content of 680 mg; the third was Marks & Spencer's Italian Style Instant Coffee - Dark Roast 4 – freeze, 670 mg.
The Consumer Council today (17th) released a new issue of the "Choice" monthly magazine, which includes testing of coffee products, involving 4 types of products, including 10 types of coffee beans, 9 types of coffee capsules, 16 types of coffee powder and 14 types of instant coffee Powder (in samples, that is, a total of 49 styles, the price per package ranges from 15 to 168 yuan.
Hong Kong law does not stipulate the standard of acrylamide in food
One of the ingredients tested this time is acrylamide, a genetic carcinogen and neurotoxic substance. The Consumer Council pointed out that the current Hong Kong law does not stipulate the standard of acrylamide in food, but according to EU regulations, roasted coffee and The relevant benchmark levels for instant coffee are 400 and 850 micrograms per kilogram, respectively, of which Robusta contains higher acrylamide than Arabica coffee beans.
Two products of The Coffee Academics and OPAL Coffee did not detect acrylamide
The Consumer Council's test results found that among the 49 coffee products, only TCA House Blend Specialty Coffee Capsules - medium roas from The Coffee Academics and Sumatra drip coffee from OPAL Coffee did not detect acrylamide, in other words, more than 90% Half of the samples tested had genetic carcinogens.
The Consumer Council pointed out that the content of acrylamide in the remaining samples ranged from 53 to 790 micrograms per kilogram. The soluble coffee powder had a higher content due to the extraction and concentration treatment. All 14 products were found to have acrylamide, and the amount of the detected amount was high. 160 to 790 micrograms per kilogram.
As for coffee beans, acrylamide was also detected in all samples, with the detection amount ranging from 71 to 220 micrograms per kilogram; among the coffee capsule samples, one sample did not contain acrylamide, and the remaining 8 samples were found to contain 53 to 230 micrograms per kilogram; coffee One of the powders was not detected, and the remaining 15 samples were found to have 100 to 240 micrograms of acrylamide per kilogram.
The Council stated that all the test samples met the benchmark levels set by the European Union.
Nestle Taster's Choice (Nestle) Original Soluble Coffee has the highest content of acrylamide
Among all the coffee product samples, the top 3 most acrylamides are instant coffee powder. Among them, Taster's Choice (Nestle) Original Soluble Coffee under Nestle Coffee detected acrylamide up to 790 micrograms per kilogram, which is the highest in each sample. The top spot is followed by Tesco's Gold- Rich & smooth freeze dried instant coffee (roasted for deep flavour) with a content of 680 mg; the third is Marks & Spencer's Italian Style Instant Coffee - Dark Roast 4 – freeze with a content of 670 mg .
Content differences up to 4 times Consumer Council: Reflecting the process of roasting and processing coffee products can reduce acrylamide content
The Consumer Council stated that overseas studies have found that lower-quality coffee beans can detect higher levels of acrylamide, because immature coffee beans contain a large amount of free asparagine, the main component that produces acrylamide. , resulting in higher levels of acrylamide in coffee.
The Consumer Council also pointed out that in this test, a sample of coffee capsules and a sample of coffee powder did not detect acrylamide, and the acrylamide content of the same type of products varied by nearly 4 times, reflecting the industry’s practice in roasting and processing. In the process of coffee production, it can actually reduce the content of acrylamide.
The Consumer Council added that, according to the previous territory-wide total diet study conducted by the Centre for Food Safety, the exposure of adults to acrylamide from coffee is small and will not affect health.
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