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Genetically Modified, Caffeine-Free Coffee

Posted by timothy on from the think-rabbits-in-australia dept.

pyrrho writes: "Coffee, Genetic Modifications... perfect for Slashdot. Kona Coffee Growers want to ban GM Coffee from the "Big Island". If you think your are for GM coffee... keep in mind they are trying to grow a type of coffee without caffeine! So, think again(tm). It might be different if they were trying to double the caffeine."

5 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. Why the big concern over GM by nelsonal · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If someone wants to try to grow GM coffee without caffeine, go for it. Why is it ok to make fairly exotic hybrids to do what we want a plant to do but not go about it using the source? If its labeled properly, so consumers can choose between GM and non GM (or irradiated/non irradiated etc) what is the big problem? Seems like the Kona coffee company is concerned about competition.

    I understand that the caffeine that is removed from decaf goes into other products, so this removes a potential revenue source. However, I don't know if the cost of removal is higher or lower than the value of the caffeine.

    --
    Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
    1. Re:Why the big concern over GM by ndanger · · Score: 4, Insightful

      GM doesn't just make crops more plentiful or disease resistant, it introduces a new species. This can cause all sorts of problems. GM plants can destroy biodiversity, become unkillable mutant superweeds, and give corporations more IP power. As an example, I believe there was an old Slashdot story (I searched but couldn't find it) about a Canadian farmer who was being sued because genetically modified seed blew off of passing trucks and cross-fertilized his field.

      This doesn't mean that GM is bad, or that Kona coffee growers aren't more concerned with the purity of their brand than their crop, just that we should proceed with care.

  2. Re:Preserving consumer choice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And here I was thinking that rather than the government trying to ban things it didn't understand, the multinational corporations were trying to force things on the public they don't understand, or particularly want.

  3. Remember your first drink of coffee? by Observer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Did you like the taste? If you're like myself and most of my acquaintances from Uni time, probably not. A nasty, bitter taste - not just because for most of us our first experience was with the instant variety which was pretty vile in those days. After a while I got to tolerate it, now I like it, but I'm pretty sure it's a learned response from the caffeine jolt. (Ditto tea, BTW - I'm a Brit but couldn't stand that brew either till I reached Uni.)

    Coffee without caffeine seems somehow pointless.

  4. Re:Caffeine Free Coffee by Smelly+Jeffrey · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's kind of like combustion-free motor oil...

    Yep, if the oil in your engine is burning, you have got a serious problem. I don't think what's left over after that sort of fire would lubricate very well at all. Don't get me wrong, motor oil does burn, but it shouldn't be combusting in your engine. Gasoline combusts in my engine.