The simple answer is yes…..
Chemical exposure depends on many factors including environment, farming, crop treatment, harvesting, storage practices and distribution.
Coffee, is the second most commonly traded commodity in the world, after petroleum.
Coffee, being a much sought after consumable product, not only treats it’s crops with chemicals, but does everything it can to cut costs including inferior drying, re-wetting, large batch roasting, and bad storage practices in the post-production handling of coffee.
Coffee once harvested, is processed using different methods that may contain high levels of harmful toxins, pesticides, and mycotoxins (mold) and usually results in contamination with ochratoxin-A in the final product.
Coffee is one of the most chemically treated crops, with some estimates stating every acre of coffee gets treated with 250 pounds of agricultural chemicals.
Conventional decaffeinated coffee is processed using a number of chemicals, some of which have been shown to be carcinogenic.
Unfortunately, decaf coffee has been found to contain higher levels of toxins, including aflatoxin and ochratoxin, than caffeinated versions.
These toxins – aflatoxin and ochratoxin- can cause cell mutation and organ toxicity in humans.
This occurs because caffeine actually prevents the growth of molds which produce mycotoxins, and decaf because it doesn’t have any caffeine, lacks the same protective mechanism.
Another problem with decaf coffee are the chemicals used in the decaffeination process.
Coffee beans are among the most highly sprayed and chemically treated crops in the world.
Crops are steeped in synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. Not only are these chemicals extremely harmful for the farmers exposed to a high level of chemicals, as are the surrounding communities, but these chemical presences are highly toxic and detrimental to human health.
As of now, the US government does not have maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides used on coffee beans. This leaves you open to a wide range of unknown pesticide residue levels lurking on the surface of your coffee.
Many people think caffeine from coffee can lead to things like jitteriness, bitter flavor and racing heartbeat. The truth is that many of these negative side-effects which are generally attributed to caffeine, are actually the result of the ochratoxins in the coffee.
The presence of ochratoxins in coffee are significantly impacted by the processing procedures. While molds can be killed off during the roasting process, ochratoxins often survive.
Remember toxins such as aflatoxin and ochratoxin, can cause cell mutation and organ toxicity to humans.
Mycotoxins are molds that can grow on coffee beans, particularly when they are improperly processed.
One such toxin, ochratoxin, has been shown to cause cell mutation and even death of neuron cells in humans. This is a good reason to avoid dry-processed coffee because mechanical and wet-processed coffees have fewer mycotoxins.
If you are going to drink coffee it’s VERY important to choose an organic coffee that is mold and pesticide free.