We have found yet another reason to only buy whole bean healthy organic coffee from reputable suppliers. A recent article in the Washington Post noted that as coffee supplies diminish and prices go up some suppliers of ground coffee are adding things to their coffee. The title of the article is Dirt, corn twigs, soybeans and other fillers are appearing in coffee.
Cream and sugar may not be the only additives in your morning cup of coffee. Tough growing conditions and rising demand are leading some coffee producers to mix in wheat, soybean, brown sugar, rye, barley, acai seeds, corn, twigs and even dirt.
As we noted in our recent article Brazil Drought Drives Arabica Prices Higher there is a historic drought in Brazil, the country that produces more coffee than anyone else. The ten million or so bag deficit in production this year will amount to about a forty billion cup of coffee deficit! Looks like some folks are looking to make up for ten million missing bags of coffee by adding corn, soybeans, etc. and grinding it all up to sell. This is actually an age old trick to reduce the cost of doing business while not reducing what they sell the coffee for.
Coffee, Please, No Dirt
I suppose that you could say this at the coffee shop but there really are good ways to avoid drinking coffee with dirt in it. First of all if you buy whole bean organic coffee you can see that all you are getting are the beans. If you go to a coffee shop where you see them roasting the beans you could probably tell if they were ladling in twigs, soybeans and dirt along with the green coffee beans. And, if you buy organic coffee you are buying into a supply chain that starts with avoidance of insecticides and fungicides and ends with careful separation of organic coffee from regular coffee all the way to the roaster.
More than Soybeans to Avoid
When buying regular coffee added corn, soybeans and dirt are not all that you need to watch out for. The Australian Food Standards Authority found metals such as aluminum and zinc, pesticide residues, and many other unwelcome substances in commercially available regular coffee. It turns out that over one hundred thirty contaminants can be found in a cup of regular coffee. These chemicals can cause impairment of the immune system, liver problems, and even several types of cancer. Look for organic coffee and look for one of the three trusted seals: USDA, UTZ or Rainforest Alliance.
Certified Organic
Rather than saying coffee please not dirt just look for a certification seal on the bag. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) is the gold standard. The fact that coffee is USDA organic coffee tells us that sustainable agricultural practices were used and that the organic coffee is free of many of the pesticide, herbicide, and synthetic fertilizer residues that can be found on regular coffee products. Two other good choices are UTZ and Rainforest Alliance. These folks also certify coffee as organic but they also help small coffee farmers find buyers and teach the things that farmers need to know in order to produce good quality organic coffee.