Forty seven coffee products contain carcinogen: watchdog

Forty-seven out of 49 coffee products in the market contained a cancer-causing substance, of which instant coffee contained a relatively higher amount of it, Consumer Council said. 

Among them, Taster’s Choice (Nestle) Original Soluble Coffee from Korea contained the highest amount - 790 mg per kilogram - but still below the European Union standard.

Acrylamide, a genotoxic carcinogen and neurotoxic substance, is a pollutant produced from free amino acids and reducing sugars in food at high temperatures. However, there is currently no regulations for acrylamide in food in Hong Kong. 

Last year from May to June, the council collected 49 samples of different coffee products, including 10 coffee beans, nine coffee capsules, 16 coffee powders and 14 instant coffees. 

The test found that only two of the 49 products were acrylamide free, which are "The Coffee Academics" (TCA House Blend Specialty Coffee Capsules-medium roast) and "OPAL Coffee" (Toraja Drip Coffee).

Acrylamide was detected, from 71 to 220 mg per kilogram, in 10 samples of coffee beans; 53 to 230 mg per kilogram in 8 coffee capsules samples; and from 100 to 240 mg per kilogram in 15 coffee powder samples. 

All of them met the standard set by the EU -  400 and 850 mg per kilogram respectively for roasted coffee and instant coffee.

Instant coffee was found to contain higher acrylamide, with the amount detected in 14 samples ranging from 160 to 790 mg per kilogram - still below the EU standard.

The council said that the difference in acrylamide between similar products could be up to four times.

As for other harmful substances, pesticides were not detected in only three out of the 49 samples, which are UCC (GOLD SPECIAL-Rich Blend), "The Coffee Academics" (TCA House Blend Specialty Coffee Capsules-medium roast) and "M&S Food" (Italian Style Instant Coffee-Dark Roast 4-freeze dried).

A total of 45 samples were found to contain Folpet - a pesticide commonly found in fruits and vegetables - at levels ranging from 0.06 to 0.78 mg per kilogram. Among them, 38 were found to exceed the relevant maximum residue level for pesticide residues set by the European Food Safety Authority - 0.1 mg per kilogram. 

Thirteen samples were found with 2-Phenylphenol at levels ranging from 0.01 to 0.10 mg/kg, of which one, AGF (MAXIM-freeze dried coffee), exceeded the maximum residue level set by EFSA.

In terms of caffeine content per 100g, instant coffees had the highest levels of between 2,188 mg to 4,316 mg, while the rest ranged from 1,117 mg to 2,380 mg. 

A cup of "Segafredo" (Espresso Casa roasted ground coffee) has about 221 mg of caffeine – the highest among all samples. 

Given that the recommended caffeine intake for adults is no more than 400 mg per day, having 2 cups a day would have exceeded the recommended intake.

In addition, ten of the samples were found to contain lead, with the amount ranging from 0.008 to 0.039 mg per kilogram. They included three coffee beans, one coffee capsule, two coffee powders and four instant coffees. 

At the same time, five were detected with Tin, with the amount ranging from 0.039 to 0.404 mg per kilogram. All were below the upper limit of the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations.