The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a statement pushing back against the recent California Prop 65 acrylamide ruling that requires cancer warning labels on coffee. Acrylamide is one of dozens of chemicals listed under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, better known as Proposition 65. Acrylamide, forms in the many foods that turn brown when roasted or baked at high temperatures. Bread, toast, chocolate, french fries, cookies, coffee are examples of foods that contain acrylamide.

 

The FDA warns California that Prop 65 as it applies to coffee, “could mislead consumers to believe that drinking coffee could be dangerous to their health when it actually could provide health benefits.” FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb stated clearly what hundreds of scientists, the World Health Organization and the FDA itself have been saying for years: “Strong and consistent evidence shows that in healthy adults moderate coffee consumption is not associated with an increased risk of major chronic diseases, such as cancer, or premature death, and some evidence suggests that coffee consumption may decrease the risk of certain cancers.”

 

Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, professor of medicine and former Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, confirmed, “The California warning about cancer and it’s possible relationship to coffee is totally misplaced. Coffee actually lowers the risk of 6 common cancers including cancer arising in the liver, which we primarily call ‘liver cancer’, metastatic prostate cancer, colon cancer, skin cancer, head and neck cancer, endometrial cancer. In three large-scale studies, people who drink coffee have lower total and cause-specific mortality.” In addition, Dr. Stephen Gruber, director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center stated, “We found that drinking coffee is associated with lower risk of colorectal cancer, and the more coffee consumed, the lower the risk.”

 

Andrew Salisbury, Co-founder of Purity Coffee and an expert on coffee and health stated, “There are thousands of peer-reviewed studies that show the health benefits of coffee are profound. The application of Proposition 65 to coffee does a disservice to consumers trying to make food decisions that are good for their health. At Purity Coffee we make every decision based on health and want to advance the conversation about coffee and science.”

 

The American Cancer Society also weighed in on coffee’s potential health impacts, and coffee is included in a list of foods that fight cancer published by the American Institute for Cancer Research. Studies have repeatedly shown that in those who drink coffee regularly, there is evidence for lower rates or risks of several cancers: