Activist Groups Petition to Ban Solvents in European Method Decaf Coffee

NEW YORK — Two activist groups are petitioning to ban the solvent methylene chloride from European Method decaf coffee.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that, along with methylene chloride, also calls for the ban of three other solvents in European Method decaf coffee: benzene, ethylene dichloride and trichloroethylene. Meanwhile, the Clean Label Project (CLP) is lobbying the California State Assembly to ban methylene chloride in decaf coffee (California Assembly Bill 2066).

“FDA has been disregarding the law by permitting these long-established carcinogens to be added to food,” said Maria Doa, senior director for chemicals policy at Environmental Defense Fund. “We hope that recent changes in FDA leadership will fix the agency’s broken system for overseeing chemicals added to the food supply." 

Jaclyn Bowen, executive director of the Clean Label Project, added, “It should be concerning to everyone that pregnant women and those with health issues looking to cut back on caffeine are unknowingly sipping trace amounts of methylene chloride in their decaf coffee. FDA should prohibit methylene chloride, and companies should use safer available methods of decaffeination."

The National Coffee Association (NCA) vocalized its opposition to the petitions. Banning the most common decaffeinated coffee would deny decaffeinated coffee drinkers’ access to a safe product associated with decreased risk of multiple cancers and other health benefits, NCA said.

About 10% of American adults (or about 26 million people) drink decaffeinated coffee each day (National Coffee Data Trends 2023), and the majority of decaffeinated coffee has been made using the European Method for more than 50 years, said NCA.

"Banning European Method decaf would defy science and harm Americans' health," said NCA President and CEO Bill Murray. "The overwhelming weight of independent scientific evidence shows that drinking European Method decaf is safe, and furthermore, that drinking European Method decaf, like all coffee, is associated with decreased risk of multiple cancers and other significant health benefits. Neither EDF nor CLP have presented anything resembling compelling evidence to the contrary, so FDA and the California legislature must reject these baseless proposed bans."

Nearly all decaffeination is done outside the United States. U.S. International Trade Commission data show Germany is the top source of unroasted decaffeinated coffee beans; Italy and Switzerland are the second and third largest sources for imports of roasted decaffeinated beans.

European Method decaf is authorized as safe by the FDA, the European Food Safety Authority, Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and other global food safety authorities.

Under U.S. food safety regulations, minute traces of a chemical used in the European Method (methylene chloride) are authorized as safe up to 10 parts per million (the equivalent of 10 drops of water in 10 gallons).