4 ms·

Coffee roasters' health at risk from chemical compound, air samples suggest

18 points by jdnier 11y ago

userbinator 11y ago
Yet another thing to put on those ridiculous warning signs? http://blog.eoproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/prop651.jpg http://blog.eoproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/prop65... Curiously enough the Wiki page for diacetyl mentions lots of action against it in the US, but basically nothing in the EU... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacetyl#European_Union_Regulation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacetyl#European_Union_Regula... I wouldn't be surprised if tons of things you are accustomed to inhaling and see nothing wrong with are eventually bad for you in some way... as the saying goes, "life is a fatal disease".
- jinst8gmi 11y ago
  Maybe spend some time working with asbestos and see how your "life is a fatal disease" philosophy works out for you.
- matt4077 11y ago
  Europe doesn't eat as much (butter flavoured-)popcorn so the risk might just be a little lower.
- rsynnott 11y ago
  That's more the wiki editor's fault than anything else; the US section talks about both occupational safety and food safety, but the EU bit only about food safety. The EU does have exposure guidelines, which it is looking at reducing, though: http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr1021.htm http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr1021.htm
ScottWhigham 11y ago
Tests at two midsized Wisconsin roasteries that agreed to let the news organization analyze the air in their production areas found diacetyl levels from unflavored roasted coffee that exceeded safety standards proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Why, why would these commercial roasters allow a "news organization" to analyze the air? Maybe you allow - maybe - a scientific-based organization to do the testing but a news organization has an agenda. Full stop. "Boss, can I go analyze the air down at Big Coffee Roaster's facility?" "What for?" "I read this comment on reddit about diactyl - it's supposedly really bad and most people don't know about it. I bet it's all over that facility and they don't know it." "This could be huge - make sure you bring back something good..."
- forgetsusername 11y ago
  >Why, why would these commercial roasters allow a "news organization" to analyze the air? It is sort of bizarre. Maybe they were naive, or thought it would be harmless. Or, maybe they were genuinely curious above what could be a potential health issue and said, "have at it". The validity of the test aside, the issue will now get attention (probably too much attention).
- baldeagle 11y ago
  From the article, it sounds like the news organization offered to pay for an industrial hygienist, associated with the local university, to conduct the study. The human interest side of the story discusses how the founders of one Roaster were interested in the well being of Mexican coffee farmers, which could imply that they would be interested in the well being of their own employees as well. This is further confirmed by that Roaster working with National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to prevent the high exposure levels found in the news agency study. Also, there were some papers published implying that the levels would be high, so if the news agency did their homework they could be chasing down a likely lead instead of just randomly looking to cause trouble. It sounds a lot like asbestosis, which is a horrible way to go; raising the public and industrial knowledge about a preventable cause is doing humane good.
  - ScottWhigham 11y ago
    The human interest side of the story discusses how the founders of one Roaster were interested in the well being of Mexican coffee farmers Which is exactly how one would spin it so that the CEO of the roaster would buy into it... I know - cynical.
    - matt4077 11y ago
      I run a small organic food business on the side and I'd be happy if someone offered me to test our products. We can't afford it and have to rely on our suppliers. That's especially true if, as it appears from the quote, the results would be treated anonymously. And for these roasters the risk is even lower because the danger is not to the consumer.
dzhiurgis 11y ago
Asides this particular chemical compound, doesn't it seem obvious that ingesting something charred, same like smoking or eating highly processed foods is going to be bad for you? It's almost like natures way is to work best on simplest ingredients (until it isn't).
aruggirello 11y ago
I'm curious: does diacetyl form when boiling green coffee beans, too? Or is this something related to roasting only.
- jdnier 11y ago
  The article explains it's a product of fermentation, which is why it's also present in beer and wine.
jdnier 11y ago
A follow-up article: CDC warns coffee workers of hazardous chemicals http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/cdc-warns-coffee-workers-of-hazardous-chemicals-b99588225z1-330424931.html http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/cdc-warns-c...

18 points by jdnier 11y ago

Yet another thing to put on those ridiculous warning signs? http://blog.eoproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/prop651.jpg http://blog.eoproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/prop65... Curiously enough the Wiki page for diacetyl mentions lots of action against it in the US, but basically nothing in the EU... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacetyl#European_Union_Regulation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacetyl#European_Union_Regula... I wouldn't be surprised if tons of things you are accustomed to inhaling and see nothing wrong with are eventually bad for you in some way... as the saying goes, "life is a fatal disease".

jinst8gmi 11y ago
Maybe spend some time working with asbestos and see how your "life is a fatal disease" philosophy works out for you.
matt4077 11y ago
Europe doesn't eat as much (butter flavoured-)popcorn so the risk might just be a little lower.
rsynnott 11y ago
That's more the wiki editor's fault than anything else; the US section talks about both occupational safety and food safety, but the EU bit only about food safety. The EU does have exposure guidelines, which it is looking at reducing, though: http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr1021.htm http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr1021.htm

ScottWhigham 11y ago

Tests at two midsized Wisconsin roasteries that agreed to let the news organization analyze the air in their production areas found diacetyl levels from unflavored roasted coffee that exceeded safety standards proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Why, why would these commercial roasters allow a "news organization" to analyze the air? Maybe you allow - maybe - a scientific-based organization to do the testing but a news organization has an agenda. Full stop. "Boss, can I go analyze the air down at Big Coffee Roaster's facility?" "What for?" "I read this comment on reddit about diactyl - it's supposedly really bad and most people don't know about it. I bet it's all over that facility and they don't know it." "This could be huge - make sure you bring back something good..."

forgetsusername 11y ago
>Why, why would these commercial roasters allow a "news organization" to analyze the air? It is sort of bizarre. Maybe they were naive, or thought it would be harmless. Or, maybe they were genuinely curious above what could be a potential health issue and said, "have at it". The validity of the test aside, the issue will now get attention (probably too much attention).
baldeagle 11y ago
From the article, it sounds like the news organization offered to pay for an industrial hygienist, associated with the local university, to conduct the study. The human interest side of the story discusses how the founders of one Roaster were interested in the well being of Mexican coffee farmers, which could imply that they would be interested in the well being of their own employees as well. This is further confirmed by that Roaster working with National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to prevent the high exposure levels found in the news agency study. Also, there were some papers published implying that the levels would be high, so if the news agency did their homework they could be chasing down a likely lead instead of just randomly looking to cause trouble. It sounds a lot like asbestosis, which is a horrible way to go; raising the public and industrial knowledge about a preventable cause is doing humane good.
- ScottWhigham 11y ago
  The human interest side of the story discusses how the founders of one Roaster were interested in the well being of Mexican coffee farmers Which is exactly how one would spin it so that the CEO of the roaster would buy into it... I know - cynical.
  - matt4077 11y ago
    I run a small organic food business on the side and I'd be happy if someone offered me to test our products. We can't afford it and have to rely on our suppliers. That's especially true if, as it appears from the quote, the results would be treated anonymously. And for these roasters the risk is even lower because the danger is not to the consumer.

dzhiurgis 11y ago

Asides this particular chemical compound, doesn't it seem obvious that ingesting something charred, same like smoking or eating highly processed foods is going to be bad for you? It's almost like natures way is to work best on simplest ingredients (until it isn't).

aruggirello 11y ago

I'm curious: does diacetyl form when boiling green coffee beans, too? Or is this something related to roasting only.

jdnier 11y ago
The article explains it's a product of fermentation, which is why it's also present in beer and wine.

jdnier 11y ago

A follow-up article: CDC warns coffee workers of hazardous chemicals http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/cdc-warns-coffee-workers-of-hazardous-chemicals-b99588225z1-330424931.html http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/cdc-warns-c...