The article "Big name coffee chains drawn into acrylamide fight" by Rebecca Trager discusses how Starbucks and other popular coffee companies are being sued in California for failing to follow the California law that requires warning labels to be placed on products that contain chemicals linked to cancer. Coffee contains a compound called acrylamide which is a by product found specifically in roasted coffee beans. According to Californian law, acrylamide is considered a carcinogen and the fact that Starbucks and other coffee joints fail to put warning labels on their products that warn customers of the potentially harmful cancer causing agent, those coffee joints are violating the law. In California they did an experiment where they tested for the amount of acrylamide in one cup of coffee and came to the astonishing results that one cup had four to well over 100 times more acrylamide than the no significant risk level for the chemical established by California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Some opposing arguments to this come from the coffee chains’ scientific experts that claim that acrylamide along with all the other various chemicals in coffee make acrylamide not a significant cancer causing agent. Also one opposer stated that "Rats are not just little humans and doing experiments whereby you exaggerate the dosage concentration has no real world reference."
acrylamide
References:
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2014/09/big-name-coffee-chains-starbucks-cancer-acrylamide-fight-california
Thank you for this information, We eat and drink many things daily that may contain harmful chemicals. I plan to try and keep coffee out of my diet.
ReplyDeleteI love this, very informative. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm really shocked to hear this because I love Starbucks!! It's helpful to know that there are harmful chemicals in stuff so we can avoid it. I agree that doing experiments on rats isn't that reliable.
ReplyDeleteWow thats crazy! I never knew coffee had carcinogens in it! I'll definetly think twice before going to Starbucks again. Very informative.
ReplyDeleteThat is crazy! I drink Starbucks at least 2 to 3 times a week and will definitely think again when I shout out my order. Did the article ever mention if they will begin putting labels on the cups or if the substance is completely harmful? I know they said that our tolerance for coffee can't be compared to the rat's tolerance for Acrylamide but I was just curious as to what they plan to do about it.Great post!
ReplyDeleteI love Starbucks, but reading this will definitely make me think twice before I order my favorite drink again! :( I also wrote my blog on chemical additives that are put into our foods and was completely astounded by the amount of chemicals we consume, and don't even know it. I can see where the California government is coming from in wanting their consumers to know what is in their products, but at the same time, most of these crazy chemicals are listed on thousands of food labels and that doesn't stop them from being consumed each and every day. If it weren't for this article, I wouldn't even know what acrylamide is... Just like the millions of other crazy substances listed on the nutrition label! Great post!
ReplyDelete