I have been a long time lover of coffee and honestly can not remember a time in life where I went any extended period of time without it. Coffee to me is more about just a liquid in a cup, it is routine and structure… that first few minutes of peace and serenity before the day begins. I am the first one up each morning and before my husband and four kids role out of bed… I am in my kitchen sipping a hot and comforting cup of coffee. I look forward to those few moments alone each day, as they are often the only minutes I get to myself during the day. So many of us get wraped up in our routines that we often forget about the bigger picture. What is is I am actually ingesting at the start of each day? We so often trust and rely on companies to provide honest a safe products… but more often than not… they’re not. 

So many of us put a lot of time and effort making sure that what we mix into our coffee is a healthy choice… but how many of us actually spend time researching what is already in our coffee? An interesting fact that I recently discovered is that the FDA currently allows methylene chloride to be used in the coffee decaffeination process and brands are not required to disclose which decaffeination process they use on their labels! Removing caffeine from coffee generally involves one of two processes: water based vs. solvent (chemical) based… and we are supposed to just trust that they are using the safe method? I don’t know about you… but I believe that if you don’t have anything to hide, then why leave this important detail off from your coffee labels? What I find very disturbing is that the presence of methylene chloride in decaf coffee is particularly alarming given that people who are looking to reduce caffeine intake (e.g., pregnant women, the elderly, people with heart disease) opt for decaf coffee!

I have recently teamed up with the Clean Label Project to not only spread awareness about the presence of potentially dangerous environmental contaminants and toxins in everyday consumer products. , but to actually make a difference! The Clean Label Project has filed lawsuits against four national brands for false and misleading advertising and labeling. These brands claim that their decaffeinated coffee products are “pure and natural.” In contrast, Clean Label Project’s study showed that methylene chloride was detected in the decaffeinated coffee products of these brands. 

So what can we all do to make the change happen? Firstly you must demand that brands disclose whether or not there are chemicals in their decaffeinated coffee! Then you can tell your friends, tell your mom, tell your brother, tell your neighbor… tell a stranger at the grocery store about this! However you decide to spread awareness just know that we make a difference with our voices, don’t let them silent us because there is nothing more important than your health and your life!