Decaf coffee typically only has between two and 15 milligrams per 8-ounce cup, according to the FDA. “So you get diminishing returns.and the last bit is almost impossible to remove.” How much caffeine is actually in decafĪn eight-ounce cup of regular coffee typically has around 95 to 200 milligrams of caffeine, according to the U.S. This means that once the beans have gone through round after round of decaffeination, the beans contain less and less caffeine, which makes it increasingly more difficult to remove caffeine, Ristenpart says. And the force the solvents can generate decreases as the beans are leached of their caffeine. The amount of caffeine that can be extracted largely depends on how forcefully the solvents can pull those caffeine molecules out, Ristenpart explains. To explain why, let’s talk basic chemistry real quick. Methylene chloride is technically a potential carcinogen, but is present in such minuscule amounts in decaf coffee-at most, 10 parts per million, as regulated by the FDA since 1985-that it is not considered a risk to human health.) Other solvent methods involve drawing out the caffeine using only water (the Swiss water technique), or highly pressurized carbon dioxide (the supercritical carbon dioxide technique). Ethyl acetate is “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA. While those chemicals might sound unsafe for sipping, only trace amounts remain at the end of the decaffeination and roasting process, Ristenpart says. (By the way, if those chemicals sound a tad on the “should-I-really-be-putting-that-in-my-body” side, you can rest easy. Basically, after green coffee beans are harvested and dried but before roasting (which is when they turn brown), they are soaked in a solution containing a solvent, usually methylene chloride or ethyl acetate, which binds to the caffeine molecules and leaches them out. Davis Coffee Center and professor of chemical engineering at the University of California Davis, tells SELF. There are several methods of decaffeination, with the most common being what are called solvent extraction techniques, William Ristenpart, Ph.D., director of the U.C.
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