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I'm sure I'm not aware of something, but from a cursory research it seems they sinply aoak the beans and water and filter the coffee out with carbon filters - d

by dmbche 3y ago

I'm sure I'm not aware of something, but from a cursory research it seems they sinply aoak the beans and water and filter the coffee out with carbon filters - do you know more about the contaminants?

aix1 3y ago
You're thinking of the method called '(Swiss) water decaffeination', which does indeed only use water. However, these also exist other methods, some of which do use solvents: https://www.compoundchem.com/2018/09/26/coffee-decaffeination/ https://www.compoundchem.com/2018/09/26/coffee-decaffeinatio...
EA-3167 3y ago
The two main processes involved either use just want (Swiss) or DCM, so I'd assume they're referring to the latter process. I personally can't imagine there's any DCM remaining in processed coffee given how incredibly volatile the stuff is, so I'd guess it's only really an issue for environmental reasons (chlorinated solvent) or for the people working in plants doing the extraction. tl;dr I don't buy that there's any residual solvent in decaf coffee, whether that solvent is water or DCM.
- pengaru 3y ago
  https://www.google.com/search?q=decaf+coffee+contaminants https://www.google.com/search?q=decaf+coffee+contaminants It escapes my why anyone would bother rolling these particular dice on something they're likely consuming daily, without even experiencing the whole point of the beverage existing in the first place. Just consume something else if you're not looking to get a caffeine high.
  - dmbche 3y ago
    Good call! For me, coffee is simply too strong, but has a very nice flavor, so half caf is the best of both worlds. And swiss water has no solvents other than water - so I'm feeling quite safe about it. I'd be more worried about mold in coffee - which is not investigsted a lot and thus it's very difficult to know if there is some in your coffee, and it could potentially be very dangerous - but that's another subject
  - EA-3167 3y ago
    Those results just say what I did, that DCM is used as the working solvent in some cases and trace amounts can remain. The FDA limit is 10ppm in coffee, and for contrast occupational exposure limits are 100-200 ppm in an 8 hour working period. NO HARM has been seen to come to people exposed to those levels, routinely, in their work. You might as well worry about the radioactivity of a banana.
    - pengaru 3y ago
      > You might as well worry about the radioactivity of a banana. This is such an asinine false equivalence I can hardly bring myself to even continue this thread. Bananas are not radioactive as the result of a potentially flawed/misperformed industrial process. Decaf coffee is always the result of an industrial process, in some cases involving dangerous solvents by design. What do you suppose the rate is of those solvents being impure or just plain mixed up, or improperly utilized? I bet you it's orders of magnitude higher than bananas spuriously evolving dangerously high levels of radioactivity or growing successfully to fruition in otherwise dangerously toxic environments. Industrially processed foods/ingredients have inherently higher risks, it's a significant part of why consuming processed foods is not recommended AIUI.
deleted 3y ago
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by dmbche 3y ago

I'm sure I'm not aware of something, but from a cursory research it seems they sinply aoak the beans and water and filter the coffee out with carbon filters - do you know more about the contaminants?

aix1 3y ago

You're thinking of the method called '(Swiss) water decaffeination', which does indeed only use water. However, these also exist other methods, some of which do use solvents: https://www.compoundchem.com/2018/09/26/coffee-decaffeination/ https://www.compoundchem.com/2018/09/26/coffee-decaffeinatio...

EA-3167 3y ago

The two main processes involved either use just want (Swiss) or DCM, so I'd assume they're referring to the latter process. I personally can't imagine there's any DCM remaining in processed coffee given how incredibly volatile the stuff is, so I'd guess it's only really an issue for environmental reasons (chlorinated solvent) or for the people working in plants doing the extraction. tl;dr I don't buy that there's any residual solvent in decaf coffee, whether that solvent is water or DCM.

pengaru 3y ago
https://www.google.com/search?q=decaf+coffee+contaminants https://www.google.com/search?q=decaf+coffee+contaminants It escapes my why anyone would bother rolling these particular dice on something they're likely consuming daily, without even experiencing the whole point of the beverage existing in the first place. Just consume something else if you're not looking to get a caffeine high.
- dmbche 3y ago
  Good call! For me, coffee is simply too strong, but has a very nice flavor, so half caf is the best of both worlds. And swiss water has no solvents other than water - so I'm feeling quite safe about it. I'd be more worried about mold in coffee - which is not investigsted a lot and thus it's very difficult to know if there is some in your coffee, and it could potentially be very dangerous - but that's another subject
- EA-3167 3y ago
  Those results just say what I did, that DCM is used as the working solvent in some cases and trace amounts can remain. The FDA limit is 10ppm in coffee, and for contrast occupational exposure limits are 100-200 ppm in an 8 hour working period. NO HARM has been seen to come to people exposed to those levels, routinely, in their work. You might as well worry about the radioactivity of a banana.
  - pengaru 3y ago
    > You might as well worry about the radioactivity of a banana. This is such an asinine false equivalence I can hardly bring myself to even continue this thread. Bananas are not radioactive as the result of a potentially flawed/misperformed industrial process. Decaf coffee is always the result of an industrial process, in some cases involving dangerous solvents by design. What do you suppose the rate is of those solvents being impure or just plain mixed up, or improperly utilized? I bet you it's orders of magnitude higher than bananas spuriously evolving dangerously high levels of radioactivity or growing successfully to fruition in otherwise dangerously toxic environments. Industrially processed foods/ingredients have inherently higher risks, it's a significant part of why consuming processed foods is not recommended AIUI.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]