US Food and Drug Administration: No cancer warning for coffee
Is coffee carcinogenic? - In the USA, the federal authority FDA has now also intervened in the legal dispute in the state of California regarding the answer to this question. The central food authority Food and Drug Administration stated on Wednesday in a statement that it was in favour of a derogation from the labelling requirement for coffee. In doing so, the FDA endorsed the view of the California authorities.
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In the USA, it is legally obligatory to label carcinogenic ingredients in food and luxury foods. At the request of a consumer group, a court in Los Angeles decided in the spring that coffee suppliers had to draw customers' attention to acrylamide, a chemical classified as carcinogenic. It occurs when food is highly heated, for example when roasting coffee beans.
A public hearing is currently underway in California after which the state authorities will decide on August 30 whether to grant an exemption for coffee. The World Health Organization does not regard coffee as an increased cancer risk based on a study by its International Cancer Research Agency. That is why the Californian government also wants to exempt the substances produced during coffee roasting from the labelling obligation.
This opinion was now endorsed by the FDA. Labelling should not mislead consumers, said the head of the authority, Scott Gottlieb. "We have made this decision because we have carefully reviewed the latest research on coffee and cancer and this does not support a cancer warning for coffee," he stressed./dm/DP/he (dpa)
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