Does Coffee Cause Cancer?
Or Why judgments determining risk labeling need to be science based.
00:30 — “Kinetic Model for the Formation of Acrylamide during the Finish-Frying of Commercial French Fries” — Parker et al., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2012
00:41 — “Carcinogenicity of drinking coffee, mate, and very hot beverages” — Loomis et al. The Lancet June 201600:54 — https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/acrylamide.html
1:08 — “Toxicology and carcinogenesis studies of acrylamide (CASRN 79-06-1) in F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice (feed and drinking water studies)” — Beland et al., National Toxicology Program 2012
1:15 — https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/acrylamide.html
1:45 — “Acrylamide levels in selected Colombian foods” —
Pacetti et al., Food Additives & Contaminants1:46 — “Scientific Opinion on acrylamide in food
EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM)”
— European Food Safety Authority, EFSA Journal 20151:50 — There was some discussion in the comments section about the figure I used for acrylamide in coffee. The 179 μg/kg figure is for roasted coffee and comes from the paper “Studies of acrylamide level in coffee and coffee substitutes: influence of raw materials and manufacturing materials” (Mojska and Gielecinska 2013.) Figures for instant coffee are much higher, but instant coffee is not used by coffee companies. Another paper, Scientific Opinion on acrylamide in food (EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain) gives a higher figure of 249 μg/kg, but still well below cookies and other foods. Bear in mind that this is based on the weight of the coffee beans that go into making your coffee, not the weight of a cup of coffee itself. So the actual figure for the amount of coffee you drink will be less than 10% of those figures.
Stories on the Prop65 coffee ruling from various media sources:
1) “California Coffee Will Have Cancer Warning Over Acrylamide” — Time magazine
2) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/starbucks-cancer-warning-judge-rules-on-coffee-carcinogen-acrylamide/
3) “Coffee must carry cancer warning, California judge rules” — Washington Post, March 29 20182:24 — Ibid.