The harm of instant coffee the ingredients of instant coffee can lead to the risk of cancer.

This article introduces you to the harm of instant coffee.

Carcinogenic risk

Essence:

This should start with the production process of instant coffee.

Coffee beans

Instant coffee is produced by drying after extracting active ingredients from roasted coffee beans. In this process, some aromatic substances will inevitably be lost, so that the flavor and taste of the finished product is not as rich and pure as that of directly roasted coffee.

Its production process is generally as follows:

Pretreatment, →, roasting, → grinding, → extraction, → concentration, → drying.

The pretreatment is to remove impurities.

In the process of culture and frying, the substances contained in coffee beans undergo complex physical and chemical reactions to form unique coffee aroma substances. After grinding, the effective ingredients in the coffee are extracted into the water at a certain temperature and pressure. Through vacuum concentration, it is convenient for drying process.

Drying, which is the forming process of instant coffee powder, is also the process that has the greatest impact on the quality of coffee powder. At present, spray drying is generally used, but because the aromatic substance of coffee is very sensitive to heat, it is very volatile at high drying temperature (there is a certain volatilization in the process of extraction and concentration). This is the main reason why instant coffee is not fried and ground coffee has a strong aroma.

Instant Coffee

The above is only the production process, during which it is found that the aroma of coffee has been lost in the operating environment of many times of high temperature. So how to make up for it? It's the essence. Manufacturers add flavors in the process of extraction, concentration or drying (depending on the manufacturer, some companies are one of the steps, some are multi-step flavors).

The quality of coffee beans

We know that more than 90% of the coffee beans on the market are grown from the following two kinds of coffee beans: Arabica (CoffeaArabica) and Robusta (CaffeaRobusta).

Coffee trees planted in Arabica are suitable for planting on fertile hillsides with good drainage at an altitude of about 1000 to 2000 meters. During the day, they like mild but not very hot temperatures and less than two hours of direct sunshine every day. If there is a lack of afternoon thunderstorms or thick fog to report to the mountains every day, farmers have to plant many taller trees in the coffee garden to shade and prevent frost.

At night, they want to have an environment that is cold to about ten degrees Celsius but not too low, because? Too warm will cause the coffee berries to grow too fast to produce small, strong, hard, high-quality coffee beans, but if it is too cold to frost, the coffee trees will freeze to death.

The conditions for its cultivation are very strict, so Arabica coffee produced in different regions, different elevations and different climatic areas usually has its own characteristics. It smells like grass when it is not roasted, and after proper roasting, it shows "fruity" (medium-shallow roasting) and "caramel sweetness" (deep roasting).

The coffee trees planted by Robusta can grow on flat land about 200 to 300 meters above sea level. their leaves and flowers are slightly different from those of Arabica, and wild trees are on average one or two meters taller than Arabica. It has strong resistance to disease and high temperature, and its yield is also high.

Generally speaking, the flavor of Robusta beans is poor, sour and rigid, and the flavor produced by different regions and climates does not vary much. when it is not baked, it smells like raw peanuts. The taste after baking is usually between "wheat tea" (medium baking) and "rubber tire flavor" (deep baking), so it is difficult to show meticulous flavor. So its price is only half that of Arabica beans.

Because of the cost, instant coffee of course chooses Robusta coffee, which is produced in Vietnam, Hainan, Yunnan and some African countries. In addition, broken beans, bad beans and maldeveloped varieties are often baked and ground directly without screening. Anyway, it is only the extraction of caffeine, and the lack of aroma can also be reconciled by all kinds of flavors and additives, which results in the poor quality of coffee beans that make instant coffee.

Carcinogenic risk

Acrylamide in 2005, the Ministry of Health of the people's Republic of China issued a notice: acrylamide is a carcinogen, the intake of children is 2 to 3 times that of adults, and instant coffee also contains carcinogens.

Acrylamide is a chemical substance that is the raw material for the production of polyacrylamide and can be used for industrial purposes such as sewage purification, the notice said. The results of animal experiments show that acrylamide is a possible carcinogen. Epidemiological observations of occupationally exposed people showed that long-term low-dose exposure to acrylamide resulted in symptoms such as drowsiness, mood and memory changes, hallucinations and tremors, accompanied by peripheral neuropathy (glove-like sensation, sweating and muscle weakness). Although the effects of acrylamide on human health need to be further studied, this problem should be paid attention to.