Coffee
Completeness scorecard
Deterministic gap audit — no score is composite, no cell is LLM-judged. Each chip is re-derivable by re-running tools/evidence/build-ingredient-scorecard.mjs. review: residuals and missing data are worked autonomously via data/evidence/ingredient-scorecard-review-flags.csv and wiki/completeness-gaps.md.
| Dimension | Status | What’s there (auditable counts) | What’s missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Analyte coverage (tier: staple) | below-tier | 7/10 HMTc analytes, total n=29 | staple tier expects total n>=40; have 29 |
| D2 Regional coverage | OK | 20 jurisdictions, top EU 39% | — |
| D3 Anthropogenic evidence | GAP | 1 agricultural-soil + 3 drinking-water; no supply-chain link | link a supply-chain/ hub page |
| D4 Background mechanism | GAP | section present, 0 drivers, 4 upstream source(s) | drivers[] empty |
| D5 Pooling depth | THIN | Pb POOLABLE, Cd POOLABLE, iAs THIN, tHg THIN, Ni THIN, Al THIN, Cr THIN, tAs THIN, U THIN | iAs: needs 1 more study(ies); tHg: needs 1 more study(ies); Ni: THIN; Al: THIN; Cr: THIN; tAs: THIN; U: needs 2 more study(ies) |
| D6 Speciation | OK | iAs, tHg, tAs declared | — |
| D7 Basis declaration | GAP | 0/10 populated cells declare a basis token | 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, tAs, U |
| D8 Provenance integrity | OK | 2 claims checked, 2 supported; 0 citations, 0 orphan, 0 foreign | — |
| D9 Mitigation | GAP | 0 cited lever(s), 6 mitigation/ link(s) | section present but no source-cited lever |
| D10 Regulatory coverage | OK | 2 rule link(s), 0 metal(s) covered | unmapped analytes: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, tAs, U |
| D11 Standards-readiness | NOT-READY | priority: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, tAs, U; pairing 0 paired, 9 single, 0 unpaired | Pb: POOLABLE; Cd: POOLABLE; iAs: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); tHg: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); Ni: THIN; Al: THIN; Cr: THIN; tAs: THIN; U: THIN, needs 2 more study(ies); basis: 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, tAs, U; depth below staple bar |
| Principle balance | flag | consumer-protection 0.83, contamination-reduction 0.00, brand-value 0.00, legal-defensibility 0.75, scale 0.25 | spread 0.83 — starved: contamination-reduction |
This is a structural ingredient node created so product pages can link to a real wiki target. Occurrence values remain pending until a source is promoted for this ingredient.
Heavy metal contamination profile
Per-analyte snapshot derived from the machine-readable contamination_profile in the frontmatter above. data gap indicates the literature has been reviewed for this commodity-analyte combination and no usable occurrence data was found (a finding, not a placeholder). The Key sources column shows the top 2-3 contributing sources by year and sample size, with numbered wikilink aliases.
| Analyte | Coverage | Typical (ppb) | p95 (ppb) | Confidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pb | n=5 | 10–200 | 800 | medium | 1, 2, 3 |
| Cd | n=5 | 5–50 | 200 | medium | 1, 2, 3 |
| iAs | n=2 | 1–20 | — | low | 1, 2 |
| tAs | n=3 | 5–300 | — | low | 1, 2, 3 |
| tHg | n=2 | 1–30 | — | low | 1, 2 |
| Ni | n=4 | 400–2000 | — | low | 1, 2, 3 |
| Al | n=4 | 200–10000 | — | low | 1, 2, 3 |
| Cr | n=3 | 80–500 | — | low | 1, 2, 3 |
| Sn | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| U | n=1 | 1–10 | — | low | 1 |
Routing
This node is linked from coffee.
Contamination Profile State
The machine-readable contamination profile is pending. Ingredient-level values belong here once parsed; finished-product values belong on the relevant product-category page.
Sources
Auto-generated from source-page frontmatter. The “Used on this page for” column is populated by the orchestrator’s POPULATE-SOURCE-LEGEND action; pending entries appear as *[awaiting synthesis]*.
| # | Citation | Year | Type | Used on this page for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Demir et al. 2025. Determination of Element Contents and Health Risk Assessment of Some Commercial Coffees in Turkiye, Journal of Tekirdag Agricultural Faculty 22(3) | 2025 | Peer-reviewed | TR Al, Ba, Cr, Ni, Pb, tAs, Cd, Sb occurrence in Ten brewed commercial coffee samples from different product/brand types in Turkiye: classic, milicano, green, gold, decaffeinated, filter, and… (n=10) |
| 2 | Joanna et al. 2025. A quantitative assessment of heavy metal contamination in instant coffee beverages: A comparative analysis of toxic element content and public health risk implications, Polish Annals of Medicine | 2025 | Peer-reviewed | PL Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn, tAs, Cr occurrence in Instant coffee beverages sold in Poland, including 3-in-1, 2-in-1, and cappuccino products (n=50) |
| 3 | Salahel et al. 2025. Assessment of toxic heavy metals in commonly consumed foods in Egypt and their implications for public health and safety, Scientific Reports | 2025 | Peer-reviewed | EG Pb, Cd, Cr, tAs occurrence in Fifty-four food and beverage samples collected January-December 2022 from local markets in Qena Governorate, southern Egypt: beverages (n=20;… (n=54) |
| 4 | EU 2024. Commission Recommendation (EU) 2024/907 of 22 March 2024 on the monitoring of nickel in food, Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 2024/907 (26.3.2024) | 2024 | Regulation | EU Ni concentrations |
| 5 | Muntean et al. 2024. Evaluation of Alternative Sources of Proteins and Other Nutrients with Potential Applications in Fish Nutrition, Molecules | 2024 | Peer-reviewed | RO Al, Ni, tAs, Cd, Pb occurrence in Alternative protein flours for potential fish-nutrition use, including gastropod flours, hepatopancreas flour, sunflower, hemp, flax, pumpkin, coffee grounds,… (n=55) |
| 6 | Pokorska-Niewiada et al. 2024. Tracking Trace Elements Found in Coffee and Infusions of Commercially Available Coffee Products Marketed in Poland, Foods | 2024 | Peer-reviewed | PL Pb, Cd occurrence in Ground coffees from four producers (brands A-D) and instant coffees from four producers (brands E-H) available on the… (n=120) |
| 7 | Berego et al. 2023. The contents of essential and toxic metals in coffee beans and soil in Dale Woreda, Sidama Regional State, Southern Ethiopia, PeerJ | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | ET Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mn occurrence in Coffee-bean samples from six farmer-farm sites and six coffee-washing-plant streams in Dale Woreda, Sidama, Ethiopia; tables report triplicate… (n=12) |
| 8 | Fuckar et al. 2023. Coffee Silver Skin-Health Safety, Nutritional Value, and Microwave Extraction of Proteins, Foods | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | HR Ni, Pb, tAs, Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe occurrence in One homogenized coffee-silverskin by-product sample from Croatian coffee roasting, analyzed in six parallel probes for reported heavy-metal concentrations. (n=1) |
| 9 | Guadalupe et al. 2023. Probabilistic Risk Characterization of Heavy Metals in Peruvian Coffee: Implications of Variety, Region and Processing, Foods | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | PE iAs, Cd, Cr, tHg, Pb occurrence in Parchment coffee bean samples collected from five Peruvian coffee-growing regions and five Arabica varieties, with a process-modeling subset… (n=159) |
| 10 | Noor et al. 2023. Quality Characteristics of Merapi Robusta Coffee Products from the Traditional, Semi Modern, and Modern Process, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Smart and Innovative Agriculture | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | ID Pb, Cd occurrence in Merapi Robusta green coffee roasted by traditional, semi-modern, and modern methods at two roast times (n=6) |
| 11 | Suomi et al. 2023. Cumulative risk assessment of the dietary heavy metal and aluminum exposure of Finnish adults, Environmental Science and Pollution Research | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | FI/EU Cd, Pb, iAs, MeHg, Ni, Al occurrence in Finnish adults aged 25–74 years from FinDiet 2012 national dietary survey (48-h recall; 5 geographic areas) (n=1295) |
| 12 | Zergui et al. 2023. Evaluation of trace metallic element levels in coffee by ICP-MS: a comparative study among different origins, forms, and packaging types and consumer risk assessment, Biological Trace Element Research | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | Ni, Cr, Pb, Cd, tAs, and Al in 44 coffee samples (instant, ground, capsule) from Algerian market by ICP-MS; multi-origin and form comparison; B-tier caveat on CDI exceedances for Cd |
| 13 | Mohammad et al. 2022. Determination of Lead and Cadmium Concentration in Different Samples of Tea and Coffee Circulating in the Libyan Market, International Journal of Science and Research | 2022 | Peer-reviewed | LY Pb, Cd occurrence in Seventeen tea samples and eleven coffee samples circulating in Tripoli, Libya during 2018-2019 (n=28) |
| 14 | BfR 2022. Nickel: estimate of long-term intake via food based on the BfR MEAL Study, BfR Communication No. 033/2022 | 2022 | Government report | German MEAL Study Ni concentrations for the coffee, cocoa, and tea food group |
| 15 | Winiarska-Mieczan et al. 2022. Cadmium and Lead Concentration in Drinking Instant Coffee, Instant Coffee Drinks and Coffee Substitutes: Safety and Health Risk Assessment, Biological Trace Element Research | 2022 | Peer-reviewed | PL Cd, Pb occurrence in 49 instant coffee, instant coffee drink, and coffee-substitute products bought in grocery stores in Chelm, Zamosc, and Lublin,… (n=49) |
| 16 | Albals et al. 2021. Multi-element determination of essential and toxic metals in green and roasted coffee beans: A comparative study among different origins using ICP-MS, Science Progress | 2021 | Peer-reviewed | Pb, Cd, Al, Cr, Ni, and U in green and roasted coffee beans across five origins by ICP-MS, including roasting effects on concentrations |
| 17 | Kowalska 2021. The Safety Assessment of Toxic Metals in Commonly Used Herbs, Spices, Tea, and Coffee in Poland, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 2021 | Peer-reviewed | Cd, Pb, tAs, and tHg in Arabica roasted coffee beans from the Polish market |
| 18 | EL et al. 2020. Aluminum exposure from food in the population of Lebanon, Toxicology Reports | 2020 | Peer-reviewed | LB Al occurrence in Ninety-seven food items collected May–September 2018 from the Beirut retail market (105 sampled; 8 discarded for turbidity), comprising… (n=97) |
| 19 | Truzzi et al. 2020. A Chemically Safe Way to Produce Insect Biomass for Possible Application in Feed and Food Production, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 2020 | Peer-reviewed | IT/EU Cd, Pb, tHg, tAs, Ni occurrence in Hermetia illucens prepupae reared in five replicates per substrate group on coffee-silverskin substrates with or without microalgae additions (n=45) |
| 20 | Adler et al. 2019. Concentrations of selected metals (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Al, Ni, Pb, Cd) in coffee, Zdravstveno Varstvo / Slovenian Journal of Public Health | 2019 | Peer-reviewed | BA Al, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mg occurrence in Two green coffee bean samples and six roasted coffee bean samples purchased in small local stores in Sarajevo,… (n=8) |
| 21 | Chaiyasut et al. 2018. Formulation and stability assessment of Arabica and Civet coffee extracts based cosmetic preparations, Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research | 2018 | Peer-reviewed | TH Pb, tAs, tHg occurrence in Arabica and civet coffee extract body lotion and hand moisturizing cream formulations after 3 months at 40°C (n=12) |
| 22 | Silva et al. 2017. Determination of heavy metals in the roasted and ground coffee beans and brew, African Journal of Agricultural Research | 2017 | Peer-reviewed | BR Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn occurrence in 50 Coffea arabica samples collected from farms and coffee marketing centers in the Alto Paranaiba region, Minas Gerais,… (n=50) |
| 23 | Stahl et al. 2017. Migration of aluminum from food contact materials to food - a health risk for consumers? Part I of III: exposure to aluminum, release of aluminum, tolerable weekly intake (TWI), toxicological effects of aluminum, study design, and methods, Environmental Sciences Europe | 2017 | Peer-reviewed | DE/EU Al occurrence in Hessian State Laboratory aluminum results for 1,825 foodstuff samples across 30 product groups, plus Part I study-design context… (n=1825) |
| 24 | Food Safety Authority of 2016. Report on a Total Diet Study Carried out by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in the Period 2012–2014, FSAI Chemical Monitoring and Surveillance Series | 2016 | Government report | Irish TDS coffee concentrations and exposure contribution for Al, tAs, iAs, Cd, Cr, Pb, tHg, and Sn |
| 25 | EFSA 2015. Scientific Opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of nickel in food and drinking water, EFSA Journal 2015;13(2):4002, 202 pp. | 2015 | Government report | EU Ni occurrence in 18,885 food samples and 25,700 drinking water samples (final dataset after exclusions) submitted to EFSA from 15 European… (n=18885) |
| 26 | EFSA 2014. Scientific Opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of chromium in food and drinking water, EFSA Journal 2014;12(3):3595 | 2014 | Government report | EU Cr, Cr-VI occurrence in Analytical results submitted to EFSA on chromium in food (27,074) and drinking water (52,735) reported by EU Member… (n=79809) |
| 27 | EFSA 2010. Scientific Opinion on Lead in Food, EFSA Journal 2010;8(4):1570 | 2010 | Government report | EU Pb occurrence in Aggregated EU occurrence data: 94,126 quantified analytical results across 14 Member States, Norway and three commercial operators (2003–2009),… (n=94126) |
| 28 | EFSA 2009. Scientific Opinion on Arsenic in Food, EFSA Journal 2009;7(10):1351 | 2009 | Government report | EU iAs, tAs concentrations |
Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals
Coffee (Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora/robusta) accumulates trace metals from soil through normal plant uptake; cadmium, lead, nickel, and aluminum are all documented in green coffee bean. Coffee plants are grown predominantly in volcanic and high-altitude tropical soils (the “coffee belt” between approximately 25°N and 25°S), and many production regions have elevated soil-Al because volcanic substrate is naturally aluminum-rich. Soil-Cd in coffee follows the same Andean-volcanic high-Cd pattern documented for cocoa (see cocoa); some Latin American coffee origins carry elevated Cd from this geological inheritance.
Post-harvest processing (wet vs dry method, hulling, drying, roasting, grinding) redistributes but does not remove the source-bean metal load. The brewing step (passing hot water through ground coffee) extracts a fraction of the metals into the brew, with the leach fraction depending on metal speciation, brew method, and grind size.
The HMTc panel concerns for coffee are Al, Cd, Pb, and Ni. The brewed-coffee-as-consumed exposure pathway differs from the green-bean or roasted-bean concentration: the metals partition between the brew and the spent grounds, and not all metals partition equally.
Ranges by source, region, and variety
Latin American coffee origins (Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Honduras) show the broadest within-region variance, with high-altitude Andean production regions documented at higher Cd than lower-altitude Brazilian production. African coffee origins (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda) typically carry lower Cd. Robusta coffee, grown predominantly in Vietnam, Indonesia, and parts of Africa, has a different Cd profile from arabica, partly because of soil-region differences and partly because the species itself differs in metal-uptake efficiency.
Aluminum content in green coffee bean is consistently elevated relative to most other food commodities, reflecting the natural high-Al volcanic soil base of the coffee belt. The aluminum partitions partially into brewed coffee.
Processing effects
Coffee processing has several steps that affect the final concentration:
Wet vs dry processing (the post-harvest fermentation and drying approach) does not substantially shift total metal load but does affect minor metals partitioning between bean fractions.
Hulling removes the parchment and silver skin; trace metals partially partition with the husk fraction.
Roasting at 180-240°C does not chemically remove heavy metals (they are not volatile at coffee-roasting temperatures); the per-bean mass decreases slightly through water and CO2 loss, so per-mass metal concentration increases marginally.
Grinding can introduce trace Pb and Cr from steel grinding-equipment contact; commercial coffee grinders are food-grade specified to minimize this.
Brewing is the most consequential step for as-consumed exposure. Espresso and French press brews retain more particulate-bound metals than drip brews where paper filters partially remove ground-coffee particles. Cold-brew methods extract metals at lower rates than hot brews. The brew-method-vs-extraction-rate analysis varies by metal.
Ingredient-derivative risk
Instant coffee (freeze-dried or spray-dried from brewed concentrate) carries the brewed-coffee metal profile in concentrated form; reconstituted instant coffee approximately matches drip-brew metal content. Decaffeinated coffee carries broadly similar metal profiles to caffeinated coffee from the same source.
Coffee bags and pods (Keurig, Nespresso, Tassimo) deliver consistent serving-size metal content but introduce packaging-contact contamination considerations: aluminum-pod systems (Nespresso) have been studied for Al leaching, with manufacturer specifications and food-contact-substance compliance addressing the migration question.
Mushroom coffee, adaptogen coffee, and similar functional-coffee products sold with Supplement Facts labels route to Cat 16 dietary supplements rather than Cat 5 beverage coffee.
Mitigation options
Sourcing levers (supply-chain-screening) are the dominant intervention. Origin-region segmentation (low-Al / low-Cd origins favored over high-Al volcanic origins for Al-conscious products) is the largest single brand-side lever. Single-origin sourcing with supplier-provided Cd and Al data per lot is the operational specification for high-quality coffee brands; commodity-blend coffee carries the weighted-average profile of its source-region mix.
Agronomic levers (agronomic) apply at the coffee-farm level. Soil pH management can reduce Cd uptake; some farms in high-Cd regions practice liming to manage the regulatory exposure. Cultivar selection between Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora and within arabica varietals (Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Geisha) can shift Cd accumulation. Avoidance of high-Cd phosphate fertilizers is standard.
Processing levers (processing) for finished coffee products are limited. Roast level does not change metal content. Grinder specification affects equipment-contact contamination at the trace level.
Formulation levers (formulation) include blend composition (substituting low-Cd-origin coffee for high-Cd-origin coffee in a blend can shift the product-mean Cd substantially) and decaffeination process specification (some solvent-decaffeination processes can introduce trace contaminants).
Testing and QC levers (testing-and-qc) include lot-level Cd and Al testing on green-bean shipments, particularly for brands serving infant/young-child markets or California Prop 65 markets where serving-based exposure calculations apply. See icp-ms.
Packaging and storage levers (packaging-and-storage) include pod-system aluminum-leaching considerations (manufacturer-side, not brand-side) and ground-coffee long-shelf-life packaging integrity.
Regulatory limits that apply
- eu-2023-915 — EU Reg. 2023/915 does not set a coffee-specific maximum level for Cd or Pb; the general beverage and produce-derived MLs apply where they govern.
- Codex Alimentarius does not maintain a coffee-specific Cd or Pb ML; some national authorities have set national MLs.
- FDA does not maintain a binding action level for Pb or Cd in coffee.
- California Prop 65 (california-prop65) applies to coffee sold in California; acrylamide (a separate chemical contaminant formed during roasting, not in the HMTc panel) has been the focus of Prop 65 coffee litigation. Cd MADL applies to coffee as a food product; the serving-based exposure screen governs.
- Aluminum dietary intake reference: the JECFA provisional tolerable weekly intake for aluminum (2 mg/kg b.w./week) and the EFSA tolerable weekly intake (1 mg/kg b.w./week) anchor the dose-response framing for coffee Al intake at population-level consumption.
Page history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page. The full version history lives in git; when DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
| Commit | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| b0f3d38 | 2026-06-12 | batch | corpus rescreen b04 old terminal skips |