More than 8 out of 10 French people drink coffee at least once a day. Getty Images:
The magazine 60 million consumers carefully evaluated over 50 coffee references. Here are the least polluting ones.
Every morning the same ritual. As soon as they get up, most French people make a steaming cup of coffee to start the day off right. In grain, ground, in capsules… Faced with such a wide range of possibilities, it is difficult to assess the quality of their composition. To track pesticides, PAHs, acrylamide, and other contaminants in our favorite beverage, our colleagues at the Journal of the National Institute of Consumer Affairs (1) conducted an extensive laboratory study of 51 conventional, organic, or fair trade references.
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The best coffee in capsules
Capsules dominate the coffee market. If their use is practical, it is far from ecological, which represents a real headache during processing. However, their popularity does not weaken. 67% of the French prepare their “small black” with a pod or capsule. At the top of the rankings, with a score of 18/20 and a retail price of €2.54 for 10 capsules, Auchan Bio Espresso coffee features low levels of undesirable ingredients such as PAHs and acrylamides.
Espresso coffee from Auchan Bio takes first place in the ranking of the best capsule coffees. Auchan Organic
The best coffee beans
Last year, sales of coffee beans and ground coffee increased by 30%. If they represent an ideal alternative from an ecological point of view, some references hide the excess of foreign bodies. Insects, remains of plants… These are the unpleasant surprises that can be discovered under an optical microscope, unappetizing, although not dangerous to health. Some brands still manage to come out on top with 18.5/20 points Ethiquable’s Ecuador Intensity 3 Arabica coffee rises to the top of the podium. Hailed for its low level of contaminants, it retails at €3.89 for 250g.
Ethiquable’s Ecuador Intensity 3 Arabica Coffee by Coffee Beans took the podium. Ethical
The best decaffeinated coffee
To obtain decaffeinated coffee, the caffeine content should not exceed 0.1% of the dry weight. In four of the analyzed references, the caffeine level exceeded half of the permitted limit. Some have large amounts of insect debris, the result of incomplete sorting. In addition, the ten references evaluated contain traces of solvent, which are harmless given their small amounts. The Monoprix brand took first place with 15/20 points for decaffeinated coffee, which was sold at a price of 3.09 euros for 10 capsules.
Monoprix coffee rises to the top of the podium in the decaffeinated coffee category. Monoprix
(1) The full survey can be found in 60 Million Consumers magazine, which is now available booth .
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Source: Le Figaro
