Just like tea, coffee has a huge customer in India. For many people, the day doesn’t begin without a cup of coffee. Health experts too often talk about the benefits of drinking coffee.
However, some recent videos on social media have left coffee lovers shocked and disgusted. These viral reels claim that crushed cockroaches are mixed in with coffee powder and that there’s no proper way to remove them. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has even allowed a small amount of insect parts, including cockroaches, to be present in coffee, as they say it’s hard to avoid completely during production.
Though this news started in the U.S., it’s possible something similar could be happening in India too. So how can you protect yourself from drinking coffee that might contain such things?
The best way is to choose trusted coffee brands that follow good hygiene and quality standards. You can also switch to organic or locally sourced coffee, which often has better quality control. And if you want to be extra sure, consider buying whole coffee beans and grinding them at home that way, you know exactly what’s going into your cup.
How people found out that coffee might contain cockroaches
The idea that coffee could contain cockroaches was discovered by chance in the US. According to a report by news.com.au, this happened back in the 1980s. A biology professor used to travel a long distance just to drink freshly made coffee every day. His colleagues were curious as they couldn’t understand why he would go so far just for a cup of coffee, even though he clearly loved it.
Eventually, they asked him about it. That’s when he explained that he had a severe allergy to pre-ground (ready-to-use) coffee. Strangely, he also had the same kind of allergic reaction to cockroaches.
This made them realize that the pre-ground coffee might be causing his reaction because it possibly contained tiny bits of cockroaches which is mixed in during the manufacturing process. Since the allergic symptoms were exactly the same, it raised concerns that crushed cockroaches might be present in packaged coffee, and that completely removing them during processing is very difficult.
Why pre-ground coffee can be risky
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted that some amount of insects can be present in food and drinks, as it’s nearly impossible to remove them completely especially in pre-ground coffee.
Some insects are already present inside green coffee beans before they are roasted. Also, the places where coffee is stored like warehouses often have pests like cockroaches, bugs, and even rats, because these are usually dark and damp spaces.
When the beans are ground into coffee powder, it becomes very hard to remove all traces of these insects. Small parts of cockroaches, their eggs, and other bugs can easily get mixed in. According to the FDA, up to 10 per cent of such contamination is considered acceptable in certain cases, as it’s hard to avoid completely.
The risk is even higher in places where coffee is produced and stored in large quantities. That’s why ready-to-use, pre-ground coffee is more likely to contain such things compared to whole beans.