Urban legends
Myths abound which unfairly disparage decaffeinated coffee. Let's list and dispel a few of them:
1. "The quality of decaffeinated coffee is inferior to that of its caffeinated equivalent". In the past, decaffeinated coffee was indeed often of a lower quality than non-processed coffee for the following reasons:
- The technological processes were not developed and optimised to the extent they are today;
- Lower quality coffee tended to be sent for processing, due to decaffeinated coffee's limited popularity;
- Some
processing techniques, including those at Demus, managed to recover
defective coffee that otherwise would not be marketable, and so the
original product was already partially defective;
- The
decaffeinated coffee was roasted following the same parameters as
regular coffee, when it actually requires different roasting curves and
final colours;
- There was no single
portion packaging available on the market, and so decaffeinated coffee,
which was rarely drunk, often came from packets which had been left
open for a long time, meaning the coffee had already oxidised or turned
rancid;
- Moreover, decaffeinated
coffee has a shorter shelf life than regular coffee once the packet has
been opened. Combined with the fact that only around 6-7% of coffee
drunk in Italy is decaffeinated (our estimate), this means that the risk
of drinking old coffee, with all the consequences this entails, is
high;
- The preparation of the
product (grinding, dosage etc.) followed the standards for regular
coffee, and therefore was not tailored to decaffeinated coffee.
Nowadays,
thanks to advances in technology and a considerable shift in mentality,
the care taken in producing decaffeinated coffee has increased
substantially right along the production chain. This ensures that the
customer receives an extremely high quality product, practically
impossible to distinguish from the original coffee.
2. "The processing of decaffeinated coffee is bad for your health".
A variety of extraction methods are used in decaffeination, NONE of
which ever, in any way, entail a risk for the consumer. All the methods
have been tested and normed extensively by the health authorities.
3. "Decaffeinated coffee is bad for health due to a supposed increase in cholesterol in the consumer's blood".
The accusation that decaffeinated coffee causes an increase in blood
cholesterol levels is completely unfounded. This has been proven in
various studies into the subject (the cholesterol problem arises when
the coffee is boiled excessively during preparation, as sometimes occurs
in Scandinavia, regardless of whether the coffee is decaffeinated or
not (read the press release “Il decaffeinato fa male al cuore”, issued
by the Foundation for the Study of Food and Nutrition, FOSAN LINK).
People
with certain health problems, such as high blood pressure or heart
desease, are strongly advised to avoid taking excessive amounts of
caffeine, while people who drink many cups of coffee a day would benefit
from alternating their normal coffee with decaffeinated coffee. These
facts will no doubt contribute to the future reappraisal of
decaffeinated coffee, as it has already happened in the USA.
IT - Il decaffeinato fa male al cuore_
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