Chemical Coffee

Coffee with cream is a luxuriously thick drink that coats the tongue and clogs the arteries. In an attempt to opt for the healthier option, millions of Americans stir ‘powdered’ creamer into their morning coffees every day.

How wrong they are.

Many powdered creamers contain no actual cream, at any stage of production. They are in fact a blend of toxic chemicals.

In the 1950’s, when creamers first appeared on the market, they were dehydrated cream and sugar which was an incredibly convenient, non-perishable source of dairy and sweetener.

Over time, manufactures found cheaper and easier ways to turn coffee a paler shade and sweeten the taste.

Nowadays ‘creamer’ is nothing more than processed vegetable oils, chemical sweeteners, stabilisers, bulking agents and many other additives that dissolve easily in coffee.

It gets worse though…

In 2012 Starbucks was spotlighted for using ‘Natural Red#4’ to dye their frappuccinos. Which sounds harmless and in fact, the little red bug is but people didn’t seem to like the idea of drinking red bug coffee.

Carmine, the food colouring, is made by boiling thousands of the female Cochineal bug skeletons in ammonia or sodium carbonate solution.

Roughly 70,000 insects are needed to make one single pound of dye.

Starbucks has amended their recipe and it is good to know that the European Food Standards Authority added ‘Natural Red#4’ to a list of dye to keep an eye on.

Unfortunately, number 4’s replacement is often Red#2 or Red#40, which are both made from products refined from petroleum.

Maybe it is best to brew your own coffee sometimes, perhaps even with your own milk from your own cow to be extra safe.

All we can recommend is that, as a consumer, you have the right to request the ingredients list of any product on sale and companies should be able to produce them on demand.

However, it may be useful to bear in mind that by definition the secretion from a beaver’s anal gland and urine counts as a ‘natural sweetener’ (see here) so maybe it is better just not to ask.