Mr. Brown and Starbucks received excellent ratings, Nestlé received a B rating, and 5 out of 8 coffees tested received poor ratings!

The word "coffee" comes from a small town called Kaffa in Ethiopia. In Greek, "Kaweh" means "strength and passion". The name "coffee" comes from the Arabic word "Qahwah", which means a plant beverage.

According to legend, the ancestors of today's Oromo people are believed to have been the first to recognize the stimulating effects of coffee trees[4], although there is no direct evidence that coffee grew in Africa or that locals used it as a stimulant, and it was even known as early as the 17th century[4]. Another legend is that more than a thousand years ago, in the 9th century in the highlands of southwestern Ethiopia, a shepherd discovered that his sheep became very excited and active after eating the seeds of a plant (coffee beans), and then discovered coffee[8]. However, this incident was not recorded as of 1671 and may be fabricated[4]. There is also a saying that a wildfire broke out in the area, burning a coffee forest. The aroma of roasted coffee attracted the attention of nearby residents, and people initially chewed the fruit of the plant to refresh themselves. Later, they roasted and ground it and mixed it with flour to make bread, which was used as food for warriors to increase their courage in battle.

How do a handful of coffee beans evolve into a cup of coffee with a rich aroma and mellow taste? Roasting, grinding, brewing, any omission in any step may affect the final taste.

The portability of coffee drinks makes it a refreshing and thirst-quenching tool in the hot summer.

okoer.com evaluated 8 coffee drinks and the results showed that only Italian Latte was rated excellent (A+); Mr. Brown and Starbucks were rated good (A); Nestle and Liquor were rated good (B); Joya and Yaha performed mediocrely and received a medium (C); Tenwa Charcoal Mocha Coffee (coffee drink) ranked last and received only a poor (D).

Sugar and flavors: Satisfying the taste but sacrificing health

It is obviously difficult to be considered a qualified foodie if you don’t like sweets, but sometimes there are health traps hidden behind “sweetness”.

Excessive intake of sugary drinks can lead to weight gain. The Chinese core journal "Health Research" once published an article stating that high sugar intake is associated with an increase in cardiovascular diseases.

In this test, five coffee drinks including Mr. Brown, Starbucks, Nestlé, Yaha and Tenwa were downgraded by one level due to their "high" sugar content.

In addition, although the sugar content of the Liquor Latte coffee drink is not high, it was downgraded by one level because it contains an artificial sweetener, acesulfame potassium. Artificial sweeteners will gradually make the taste buds accustomed to and even more obsessed with sweets, which is not in line with a healthy diet.

In addition, four coffee drinks, including Liquor Latte, Georgia Espresso, Yaha Italian Classic Espresso and Tenwa Charcoal Mocha (coffee drinks), were downgraded by one level because they contained edible flavors.

The Chinese core journal "Food Science" once published an article stating that over time, the intake of flavors and fragrances may cause potential harm to human health, especially to young children and adolescents.

Phosphates, a common culprit in food and beverages

Phosphates are a frequent visitor to Youke reports, having appeared in reports on instant noodles, potato chips, and fruit juice drinks.

Adding phosphates to food can improve its color, aroma, taste, shape, and maintain the freshness and quality of food. Phosphates can be used as preservatives, clarifiers, buffers, and acidulants in various soft drinks.

The academic journal "Beverage Industry" once published an article stating that excessive consumption of complex phosphates will cause calcium and phosphorus imbalance in the human body, especially affecting children's vitamin D absorption and may cause rickets.

In view of this, Youke downgraded four products containing phosphates by one level.

Heavy metal nickel detected in 1 coffee beverage

For the human body, heavy metal nickel is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, nickel is a trace element required by the human body, and on the other hand, "GB/T 5009.138-2003 Determination of Nickel in Food" also points out that excessive intake of nickel will cause harm to human health.

Youke.com has detected heavy metal nickel in the Georgia espresso beverage. Currently, GB 5749-2006 "Sanitary Standard for Drinking Water" stipulates that the maximum allowable amount of nickel is 0.02 mg/L, but there is no limit on the heavy metal nickel in the relevant national standards for coffee beverages.

Excellent suggestions

• The coffee drinks in large packages on the market can contain up to 500 ml of coffee, but from a health perspective, Youke recommends buying small packages of coffee drinks to reduce sugar and calorie intake.

• If you feel tired, the best way is to rest, and you should not rely on drinking coffee to refresh your mind. The effect of caffeine is temporary, and when its refreshing effect fades, you are more likely to feel particularly tired.

• Although coffee is good, it is not free for everyone to drink at will. For pregnant women, nursing mothers, patients with gastric ulcers, and people who have strong reactions after drinking coffee, consuming a large amount of caffeine can have adverse effects on the body. These people need to choose the right time and amount of coffee to drink according to their actual situation. Epidemiological experiments show that consuming a moderate amount of caffeine during pregnancy (less than 300 mg/day, that is, 5-6 mg/kg body weight/day, about 3 small cups of coffee) will not have a negative impact on the body.

Chapter 1. Excellent Rating

Chapter 2. Evaluation Report

Test results

The evaluation results of coffee drinks were disappointing: Illy Latte received an excellent rating (A+), two products were excellent (A), two were good (B), two were average (C), and Tenwa Charcoal Mocha Coffee (coffee drink) ranked last with a poor rating (D).

This evaluation includes two parts: component evaluation and other defect evaluation.

• Ingredient evaluation

All products have normal caffeine content

The caffeine content of the 8 coffee drinks submitted for inspection was between 227 and 551 mg/kg, which is within the normal range.

Generally speaking, the caffeine content in 1 liter of pure brewed coffee ranges from 300 to 1000 mg, depending on the type of coffee beans and the blending ratio, the degree of roasting, the ratio of water added, the brewing method and time, etc.

The caffeine content in energy drinks is generally between 240 and 320 mg/L; each liter of cola contains about 100 mg of caffeine.

5 coffee drinks were downgraded due to "high" sugar content

Among the 8 coffee drinks submitted for inspection, 5 were downgraded by one level due to their “high” sugar content.

The World Health Organization's 2015 guidelines recommend that daily "free sugar" intake for adults and children should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake, that is, not more than 50 grams.

In addition, if the intake of "free sugars" is further reduced to below 5%, or about 25 grams per day, it will bring additional health benefits, such as helping to reduce tooth decay.

The World Health Organization also stated that sugar intake through sugary drinks may reduce the body's intake of other nutrients, leading to unhealthy diet, weight gain, and increased risk of non-communicable diseases.

Studies have shown that children with higher sugary drink intake are more likely to be overweight or obese than those with lower sugary drink intake.

The "free sugars" mentioned by the World Health Organization and the "added sugars" proposed in the "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020" refer to monosaccharides (such as glucose, galactose, fructose) and disaccharides (such as sucrose, granulated sugar) added to foods and beverages, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, juices and concentrated juices, but do not include sugars in non-processed foods such as whole fruits and vegetables.

When calculating the amount of sugar added to coffee drinks, Ueco has excluded the lactose content in the product. Specifically, if the amount of sugar added to a product is between 50 and 100 grams per liter, that is, the amount of sugar added in 250 ml of the product exceeds 12.5 grams, reaching half of the daily intake of 25 grams recommended by the World Health Organization, Ueco will consider its sugar content to be "high" and will be downgraded by one level.

In addition, Youke believes that packaging that is too large may induce consumers to consume too much sugar at one time. From a health perspective, Youke recommends that consumers try to choose products with a net content of 250 ml or less.

Sweeteners, flavors, and phosphates work together to lower ratings

The sugar content of the Latte coffee drink is not high, but it was downgraded by one level due to the addition of artificial sweeteners.

Although artificial sweeteners contain no calories, they will make your taste buds gradually accustomed to and even more addicted to sweets, which is not in line with a healthy diet.

Four products were downgraded by one level as their outer packaging indicated that they contained edible flavoring ingredients used to create or enhance flavors that natural ingredients do not have.

Four products contain synthetic phosphates as acidity regulators, which can affect kidney patients. Many doctors recommend that kidney patients avoid consuming this substance in their diet. In 2012, a study by scholars from the Heidelberg Kidney Center in Germany and several kidney disease hospitals in Germany found that synthetic phosphates added to food can also affect the health of the general population and cause damage to blood vessels.

Heavy metal nickel detected in Georgia espresso beverages

This time, Uke detected nickel in the Georgia espresso beverage, and its content exceeded the German limit of 20 micrograms per liter for nickel in mineral water, bottled water and drinking water.

According to the public welfare organization Allergy UK, the heavy metal nickel can cause a variety of allergic symptoms in sensitive people. It is estimated that nickel-allergic people will experience worsening of skin eczema after consuming nickel through food.

Although people do not drink coffee beverages in large quantities like water, the nickel content should still be controlled below the limit to ensure that people with nickel allergies do not suffer from allergies. Therefore, Georgia espresso is downgraded by one level because it contains nickel.

Of course, there is also a lot of reassuring news in this evaluation: no product was detected with acrylamide, a carcinogen that may be produced in the coffee bean roasting process, problematic mineral oil ingredients, mycotoxin ochratoxin A, controversial benzoic acid and sorbic acid preservatives, and perchlorate. The laboratory also only detected trace amounts of chlorate and very small amounts of microorganisms in some products.

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