Natural Philosophy
Are Coffee Pods Safe? Examining the Health Concerns
Intro - Are Nespresso/Keurig coffee pods bad for our health?
This post is all about coffee pods! Potential metal, plastic, and chemical leaching.. and how the daily use of the machines and coffee pods may (or may not) affect our health.
I’ve been using these pods for a loong time.. and I began this blog post in the hopes (but knowing the likely outcome) that they’re not too bad for our health. Originally Nestle’s Nespresso coffee pods dominated the market as they held the coffee-pod patents; but after eventually losing a patent case, most of their technology became freely available and competitors arose. Today, coffee pods are extremely popular and are used by a significant portion of the population.
Let’s get right it… First by analysing how the machines work and what they’re made of, and what materials the coffee-pods are made from. We’ll briefly touch on the environmental impacts, and solutions for better tasting, healthier coffee.
Materials used in the machines & coffee pods
How the machine works
Inside the Nespresso, or similar coffee-makers, is relatively simple machinery. There is a pump which draws water from the tank and makes the loud noise. There is a water boiler, usually a thermocoil or thermoblock, a series of heated coils and passages the water passes through to quickly become hot. Let’s stop there for a moment, as the water boiler is the first potential metal leeching component.
A thermocoil or thermoblock are typically made from one of three materials: Stainless steel, copper, or aluminum. If the stainless steel is low quality, there is the risk of leeching nickel and/or chromium when exposed to acidity or heat over a long period of time. Copper, except in small doses, is a highly toxic metal, which is usually lined with stainless steel to prevent leeching. If the copper is lined with stainless steel, it shouldn’t be an issue as unless the stainless steel degrades or is scratched (a serious concern in copper cookware, read here to learn about best types of cookware). However high temperatures, acidic water, and unfiltered water can all lead to the leeching of poor quality copper and/or stainless steel. If the manufacturer uses the cheap option of aluminum, or even anodized aluminum (most likely), you’re likely to ingest it, and more and more likely as your machine ages and the anodized coating deteriorates from heat and acidity.
To sum up the above paragraph, the water boiling mechanism in the machine is likely going to leach some type of unwanted metal into your coffee, at varying degrees depending on the quality of the pipes. (For the same reasons you may want to attach a filter to your shower head, and avoid boiled water coming out of pipes in general).
(Some of the plastic which the water comes into contact (e.g. in the reservoir) may have toxic BPAs in them as well.)
After heating to around 90-100°C, the water enters the coffee-pod under pressure, then flows out again as coffee. So what are in the pods?
What the pods are made of
There are different types of pods, but most of them contain one of three materials: paper, aluminum, or plastic. Most commonly a coffee-pod will be made from aluminum, plastic, or a combination of both.
If you can find paper pods, the only major health risks would be from bleached paper (dioxin risk from chlorine bleaching), or if a plastic sealant is also administered. Generally, though, if you can find paper pods they’re the best option for your health and the environment’s.
Aluminum is much more likely to leach into foods when heated to around 200°C, which a coffee maker would not get close to (maybe 100°C). However, it also leaches if exposed to acids, and coffee is between 4.5-6pH. In a coffee-pod machine, we have a scenario where a low-grade, non-anodized aluminum coat is penetrated, then heated to a temperature of 100°C in the presence of a 4.5-6pH menstruum. With all of these factors, there is a high likelihood of leaching, even when it is only exposed for a short period of time to the fluid.
The most common type of plastic used in coffee pods is either Polypropylene (PP) or Polyethylene (PE). PP would likely be the primary ingredient in a solely plastic pod, while PE would more likely be used in linings. At a temperature of 100°C and under the exposure of a 4.5pH acid, both PP and PE have a low risk of leaching much plastic into the coffee. However, if the PE lining on the lid is punctured, which occurs when the machine penetrates the pod, the risk of leaching increases. There is also the chemical migration of the acidic coffee ground in direct contact with the plastic casing for prolonged periods of time to consider. Lastly, PE and PP are the high-grade “food-safe” plastics, if the manufacturer opt for lower grade (i.e. less acid/heat resistant) plastics, such as LDPE, PVC, plastic blends, or recycled plastics, the risk of leaching increase.
Summary
The paper pods are best, but you’ll still be ingesting metals (likely aluminum – or nickel, chromium, or copper) from the water-heating mechanism. The aluminum pods appear to be the worst for your health, as cheap aluminum is found everywhere in our environment and this is just another exposure source adding to its accumulation. Plastic, if it is PE or PP, seems to be relatively stable comparatively to aluminum; but low-grade plastics would be more detrimental. Overall: the situation isn’t terribly dire but depending on the materials used, it’s pretty bad. All of the options will negatively affect your health by at the very least some aluminum exposure. If you’re using low-quality plastic types, then you could be in a lot of trouble down the road.
Extra bonus for giving up the coffee pods: They’re not good for the environment. Even the recycle programs have poor results, and very few people take the time to do it. Also, you can pretty safely assume that the coffee is a product of slave labour in some capacity. Should you care? Yes, if only because it will come back at you, in one karmetic form or another.
Solution: Go for a high-quality glass and stainless steel french press, with a stainless steel bottomed glass water boiler to heat the water. Glass is basically inert, and high-quality stainless steel filter-mesh isn’t too bad. Ideally a glass french press with a wood, glass, or clay filter would be ideal, but stainless steel is good enough for me. And if you’re drinking coffee every day anyways, why not experiment with some different types of fair-trade, high-quality blends? Sounds a hell of a lot better to me.
Schedule an Herbal Consultation w/ Plato's Garden
This Post was all about the health effects of coffee pods...
