Introduction:The National Health Commission of China has recently sought public feedback on 19 national food safety standards, marking the first time that coffee has been included in the testing scope for acrylamide. This move addresses consumer concerns about potential carcinogens in freshly brewed coffee. This article explains the sources and risk levels of acrylamide, as well as how the updated standards improve the detection system, helping readers rationally assess the relationship between daily coffee consumption and health.
The National Health Commission has recently launched a consultation on 19 national food safety standards. Among them, the "Determination of Acrylamide in Foods" (draft for comments) specifically includes coffee in the testing targets. This step aims to respond to the public attention drawn by the detection of acrylamide in freshly brewed coffee at the end of 2023. The new standard not only expands the scope of testing to include categories such as tea and infant food, but also clarifies common misconceptions using scientific methods, providing a basis for optimizing industry processes.
A comparative test published by the Fujian Consumer Council in December 2023 showed that all 59 samples of freshly ground coffee sold on the market tested positive for trace amounts of acrylamide — a substance classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group 2A (probably carcinogenic to humans, with limited evidence in humans but sufficient in animals). Acrylamide primarily originates from the Maillard reaction during the roasting process.
Experts emphasize that this same reaction also creates over 800 unique aromatic compounds in coffee, making it an unavoidable byproduct of processing.
According to the technical details in the draft for comments, the testing method for the coffee category will use liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), which can accurately detect acrylamide levels above 0.1 micrograms per kilogram of sample. Notably,a typical 300 ml cup of black coffee contains only about 0.45 micrograms of acrylamide, while the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has set the tolerable daily intake at 185 micrograms — meaning one would need to drink over 400 cups of black coffee in a row to potentially exceed that limit.
From an industry practice perspective, although no country has yet set a limit on acrylamide levels in coffee, leading brands have proactively optimized their roasting profiles. For example, by controlling the bean temperature rise rate to between 1.5-2°C per minute and maintaining the final roasting temperature within the range of 205-215°C, it is possible to effectively reduce acrylamide production by 15-20%.In the shown roasting stages, temperature management during the peak of the Maillard reaction (approximately 160-200°C) is particularly critical.
Daily coffee consumers need not panic, but can pay attention to the following details to reduce risk: prioritize medium to light roast beans (the darker the roast, the relatively higher the acrylamide concentration), avoid reheating leftover coffee liquid, and it’s recommended to consume a single brew within 2 hours. Professional baristas suggest using freshly roasted (7-21 days post-roast) single-origin beans, paired with the correct grind size (medium-fine grind is suitable for most filter brewing methods), to strike a balance between flavor and safety.
In addition to addressing public concerns, the revision of this national standard also aims to establish a comprehensive food safety monitoring system. The drafting notes clearly state that the addition of testing items for products such as tea and sugar is intended to fully understand baseline data on acrylamide levels across various types of food, thereby providing scientific support for possible future limit regulations. For coffee enthusiasts, understanding the connection between processing principles and actual intake levels holds more practical significance than simply focusing on whether acrylamide is “detected or not.”
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
