Wake Up and Smell the Nauseating Coffee

jacobjyu writes "The NY Times is running a story about a coffee roasting plant being accused of polluting the air. The city inspector claims the smells are making people sick, however the plant owner retorts, 'This is not a smell that makes people sick ... This is one of those sweet smells like cut flowers, like fresh-baked bread, that's part and parcel of life in every city across the world.' Whatever the case, some people are claiming plastic-smelling fumes coming from the stacks: my only question is what the heck are they putting in this coffee??"

Comments

Decaffeinated

[Strange Ranger]

If they are using a chemical decaffeination process that would likely cause the stink.

The chemical solvent method is the most commonly used method for removing the caffeine from coffee. Common solvents include methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, and highly pressurized carbon dioxide. After the green beans are moistened they are then immersed in the solvent. After the solvent performs its action, the beans are rinsed with water. After the beans have been rinsed, they are steamed. Residual solvents evaporate in the steam. The rinsing and evaporation systems collect the solvent for recycling and re-use. Any remaining solvent will be burned off in the roasting process. The chemical caffeine method will remove 96 - 98% of caffeine.

Wimps

[pmz]

Those people in the article should try living in a paper mill town sometime. Yech!

Roasting Coffee Beans Stinks Bad

[selectspec]

Coffee beans that have been roasted have a wonderful smell and thank the Lord for it, because life wouldn't be worth living without good ole roasted coffee beans.

However, anyone who has every roasted coffee knows, that roasting coffee produces very strong unpleasant odors.

Buying green coffee beans is great because they have a shelf life of several years. Once you roast a been, the whole freshness thing comes into play, and the shelf life is only a few weeks before the coffee goes stale.

Roasting your own coffee is not for the feignt of heart and should be done in a well ventalated area (not your kitchen). Outdoor ovens are perfect.

VOC's can be a problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Volatile organic compounds, or VOC's, can be a major pollutant. I know you get quite a lot of these when you bake bread, for example. It's no big deal when you bake a few loaves at home, but a serious problem when you're talking about a large commercial bakery. I'd imagine that roasting coffee might also produce lots of different VOC's, so I wouldn't be too quick to blow off the complaints of people living near a large roastery.