Most coffee snobs reject decaf coffee on principle. After all, part of what makes coffee great is the added bonus of that little pick-me-up when the caffeine binds to adenosine receptors in the brain blocking those not-welcome feelings of being tired (for a fun video on how caffeine affects your brain, click here).
But decaf does provide a good service. It helps us to enjoy coffee in after supper without worrying about staying up all night. It helps those with certain heart conditions to enjoy coffee without caffeine affecting their heart.
Whether or not you enjoy decaf coffee, CNN wants to convince you that drinking decaf is dangerous to your health. And they are partially right. It all depends on the process that the producers use for decaffeination.
To get a coffee bean to decaf levels, most producers use a chemical called methylene chloride. If you have never heard of that chemical before, it might be helpful to know that up until 2019, it was used as a paint stripper.
In the article, Kristen Rogers writes of its other uses:
That chemical is methylene chloride, a colorless liquid that’s used in certain industrial processes, “including paint stripping, pharmaceutical manufacturing, paint remover manufacturing, and metal cleaning and degreasing,” according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
It was banned in 2019 for this use by the EPA, but it is still used in one of the decaf processes for coffee. Rogers goes on:
Methylene chloride has long been known to be a carcinogen, designated as such by the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the World Health Organization…In addition to being carcinogenic, methylene chloride can cause other health harms, such as liver toxicity and at higher exposures neurological effects, and in some cases death,” . . . These risks are in the context of external acute exposure to high levels of the chemical, or ingestion of the chemical on its own, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Methylene chloride has long been known to be a carcinogen, designated as such by the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the World Health Organization…In addition to being carcinogenic, methylene chloride can cause other health harms, such as liver toxicity and at higher exposures neurological effects, and in some cases death,” . . . These risks are in the context of external acute exposure to high levels of the chemical, or ingestion of the chemical on its own, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As scary as that sounds, it needs to be put into perspective. The FDA allows decaffeinated coffee to contain trace amounts of methylene chloride, below 10 parts per million (0.001 percent). However, some brands have been found to contain higher levels, including 1.4 parts per million, 3.5 parts per million, and 8.9 parts per million. That’s a tiny amount. However, it is possible that even that amount, over time, could be harmful.
Compare that to a decaffeination process called, The Mountain (or Swiss) Water Process (MWP). Put simply, MWP works like this: Green (unroasted) coffee beans are soaked in pure water from mountain glaciers, allowing the caffeine and coffee solids to dissolve. Water is then passed through activated charcoal filters to remove caffeine while retaining the flavor compounds. It is a completely, natural, guilt-free process of decaffeination (for more information, click here).
Until I started New Morning Mercies Coffee, I had no clue about these differences. I just thought decaf was decaf. But now, as a coffee roaster, I will NEVER carry decaf that is processed with methylene chloride. Every decaf bean you purchase at New Morning Mercies will be processed via MWP. You can drink freely and without anxiety.
If you are looking for an AMAZING cup of decaf, check out our newest arrival, Decaf Delight. Seriously, it’s the best decaf I have ever had. Decaf is usually thin and sometimes metallic, but not this. It is a full-bodied Sumatran bean with tons of delicious flavor. Best of all, it was processed via Mountain Water Process, so you buy, drink, and enjoy, knowing your coffee won’t give you cancer or neurological disorders.
New Morning Mercies Coffee 