The National Coffee Association (NCA) in the US has issued a statement in which it claims to ‘set the record straight’ on the subject of diacetyl formed during coffee roasting and its alleged health risks.
The NCA said it recently posted a position statement in light of continuing media reports concerning diacetyl in the workplace. The NCA attacked journalists for highlighting the issue, and said that reports about a link between diacetyl produced during coffee roasting and lung diseases were “speculative.” It claimed that “the majority of these reports appear to have all originated with a single journalist, and have evolved and expanded over the past ten months,” although other reports, including those published in C&CI, were based not on these but on statements from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the science arm of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
“The common element in these speculative reports is an implication that working with coffee is potentially harmful to health in ways that have not previously been revealed – despite the fact that coffee has been safely roasted for centuries,” said the NCA. “In fact, we believe that a sound scientific basis for such conclusions is missing –such as weight of evidence from a systematic review of scientific literature, a survey of patterns of illness or agreed-upon exposure levels.” Nonetheless, out of what it described as “an abundance of caution,” the NCA has recently begun an extensive, systematic literature review to learn what, if anything, such a review might conclude.
“Currently, there are no agreed upon regulatory standards for an exposure level in the workplace,” said the NCA. “The US Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA) failed to adopt draft recommendations for workplace exposure issued by NIOSH. In fact, OSHA withdrew initial rulemaking efforts which would have put a legal requirement in place related to how much diacetyl a worker could be exposed to during short-term and eight-hour work timeframes.
“The exposure level in the draft NIOSH recommendation is 5 parts per billion (ppb) for an 8-hour workday, which is widely understood to be exceedingly and unnecessarily low,” the NCA claimed. “While NIOSH’s draft suggests 5 parts per billion (ppb) in the workday, and also 25 ppb for 15-minute short-term exposure, the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) posits .01 parts per million (that is, 10 ppb) over the 8-hour workday and .02 parts per million (that is, 20 ppb) for 15-minute short-term exposure. The Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA), a non-profit group dedicated to the best use of toxicity data for risk assessment, sets out a recommendation of .2 parts per million (that is, 200 ppb) during the 8-hour workday. Thus, as a practical matter, there are clearly varying levels recommended as safe put forth by scientific groups.”
The NCA also noted that NIOSH approached several coffee roasting facilities and engaging in a formal investigation known as a Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE). “These efforts have led to recent press reports discussing some of the levels of diacetyl measured in the ‘headspace’ over freshly roasted coffee, over cooling trays and in grinding areas from these HHE-type evaluations,” said the NCA. “It is important to note that long-term exposure to these headspace type values are not typical of the type of exposure a worker would experience during the workday. In fact, modern roasting equipment, engineering controls, industrial hygiene and safety protocols are designed to minimize exposure to diacetyl and other, similarly volatile compounds.
“Values reported in the monitoring of workplace scenarios may sound alarming if taken out of the proper context. It is further complicated, considering there appear to be no published systematic reviews of scientific research or workplace records that demonstrate a linkage between these exposure levels and patterns of disease for coffee manufacturing, nor is there a governmental recommendation on safe exposure levels. As a result, the tests reported in the media are yielding results that are difficult to interpret beyond their raw, numerical values,” the NCA claimed, noting that it continue following the issue “very closely” and keep members informed, including FAQs posted on its website. “For now, we would like you to be aware of the circumstances, especially should you be approached with offers for testing by individuals, media or government agencies,” it concluded.
