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Are coffee capsules dangerous for our health?

Credits : Wikipedia

Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks in the world.  However coffee capsules, which are specially designed for coffee machines, are now being called into question as being bad for our health. Coffee capsules contains furan a toxic chemical for your liver if consumed in large quantities.  It is often used as a reagent or precursor in organic chemistry. 

Popular for drinkers and researchers alike

Coffee is popular all over the world.  In France it is the second most consumed drink after water.  Due to its great popularity, molecular scientists have studied coffee to find out the ideal number of cups per day you should drink to keep your heart healthy.

Researchers have announced the development an implant that is able to replace medication for diabetes after having detected caffeine in the blood.  Therefore, in the near future,  insulin injections a could be replaced by coffee as a form of medication for people suffering from diabetes.

Capsule coffee or filter coffee – what’s the difference?

Coffee capsules have become very popular with the growing market for special coffee machines.  Largely due to their practicality, millions of coffee capsules are sold everyday. In 2013 a national French study carried out a research report on a dozen brands of coffee capsules.  The aim of the report was to compare the rate of different chemical compounds in comparison to filter coffee. The study in question concluded that elements like cobalt, chromium, tin, nickel, copper, zinc and acrylamide were generally found in slightly higher quantities in coffee capsules than for filtered coffee.

Credits : Pixabay

Is furan dangerous?

Although the study ended up concluding an increased dose of caffeine was the main danger of capsule coffee, another substance could also pose a problem.  Furan is an aroma that forms at high temperatures during roasting which is also considered to be a possible carcinogen.

In a 2017 publication, the European Food Safety Authority  (EFSA) recognised “There are some knowledge gaps about the toxicity of furan and methylfurans and about exposure to them.”  However eating of foods containing coffee – but also cereals, baby food or toast – are not believed to be dangerous.

Nevertheless the authority does state that the large number of consumers of these products does cause some concern, although no further details were specified. However it is believed that you’d need to drink about twenty cups of coffee capsule coffee a day for you to be worried!

Sources : LibérationFemme Actuelle

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