The voice of the European food and drink industry Helmut Guenther Coffee and Coffee Substitutes

The voice of the European food and drink industry Progress in the coffee sector Coffee -summarizing the results of a research program which was initiated and conducted by the coffee industry with participation of more than 20 European companies -Coffee Substitutes with focus on Chicory -as a key ingredient in coffee substitute products -and identified to have relatively higher acrylamide level

The voice of the European food and drink industry Chemical/physical parameters of green coffee beans Green Coffee varieties: Robusta vs. Arabica Investigations indicate that roasting of Robusta green coffees in tendency results in slightly higher levels of Acrylamide compared to Arabica green coffees. Explanation: Hypothesis is that this is driven by differences in chemical/physical properties (e.g. acidity) and precursor levels (tendency of higher Asparagine levels in Robusta coffees) Carbohydrate concentrations have not been found to correlate with acrylamide levels in roast coffee. Quality Impact Arabica and Robusta green coffees are distinctly different in sensorial properties. Accordingly any adaptation of a green coffee blend would have a significant impact on the final product quality I. Natural Parameters

The voice of the European food and drink industry Agronomic Factors Narrow range of precursor (Asparagine) levels does not provide opportunity of selecting green coffees to influence Acrylamide formation No studies conducted to date on the impact of fertilizers/ climate/ soil on precursors I. Natural Parameters (continued)

The voice of the European food and drink industry Roast Coffee and Soluble Coffee are based to 100% on green coffee - without any allowed further ingredient. No existing option to influence the Acrylamide level by replacing ingredients II. Product Composition

The voice of the European food and drink industry Pilot plant scale investigations in influences of coffee roasting conditions on Acrylamide formation have covered a broad range of technologies and process conditions – representing the range of typical technologies and product qualities across Europe. –green coffees: –wet processed Arabica (Colombia) –dry processed Arabica (Brazil) –dry processed Robusta (Vietnam) –roast time –very fast (90 sec) to very slow (16 min) –degree of roast –very light to very dark Quality Impact Green coffee blend, roasting time and degree of roast are key design parameter to consistently achieve target final product qualities and flavour profiles. Modifications of these variables in existing products would result in significant differences in sensorial properties and final product qualities. III. Process Conditions

The voice of the European food and drink industry III. Process Conditions (continued) Acrylamide formation in coffee is different to other food categories. At roasting the Acrylamide formation starts rapidly. After reaching a maximum the level of Acrylamide decreases with continued roasting – to a level which is 25 – 30% of the maximum level depending on the target final degree of roast

The voice of the European food and drink industry Variations of total roast times by modifying roasting temperatures did not influence the maximum level during roasting Maximum levels at lower degrees of roast than commercial products III. Process Conditions (continued)

The voice of the European food and drink industry Variations of degree of roast at constant roast time show a slight decrease of Acrylamide with increasing degree of roast – within the range of laboratory variability. Consequently it would be very difficult to validate any reduction. III. Process Conditions (continued) Quality Impact Degree of roast is an essential parameter to specify the quality and flavour – leaving only very limited options to reduce the Acrylamide level

The voice of the European food and drink industry Results of the Pilot Plant program have been verified by a set of 50 roast coffee samples – produced on 16 different commercial roasting systems using different green coffee qualities and applying different roasting conditions representing the state-of-the-art technology of the European coffee industry III. Process Conditions (continued)

The voice of the European food and drink industry Sensorial properties The selection of the green bean blend and the specification of the process conditions are determining the finished product sensorial properties. Any variation to achieve a reduction of the Acrylamide level would result in significant quality changes – leaving only very limited options for reduction Stability of Acrylamide Publications indicate that –different to other food categories- Acrylamide may not be stable in packed roast coffee products when storing at room temperature during the best-before-period and may significantly decrease to 40-60% of the initial level. These observations have not yet been elucidated. Finding may need consideration in data evaluations but offers no immediate mitigation opportunity as freshness is one of the key coffee quality attributes IV. Finished Product Characteristics

The voice of the European food and drink industry Progress in the coffee sector - Coffee -summarizing the results of a research program which was initiated and conducted by the coffee industry with participation of more than 20 European companies Coffee Substitutes with focus on Chicory -as a key ingredient in coffee substitute products -and identified to have relatively higher acrylamide level

The voice of the European food and drink industry Agronomic Factors – Chicory Only minor effects of agronomic factors –Testing of five Chicory varieties –grown under same conditions-did not show significant differences in Acrylamide content –Fertilization level has a very limited impact on Acrylamide level. Variation is less than 10% between lowest and highest fertilization level in test –The date of harvest has no significant impact on Acrylamide content –Indication that the initial free Asparagine content in the dried Chicory is correlated to the Acrylamide formation I. Natural Parameters

The voice of the European food and drink industry Chicory has shown to be the major contributor to Acrylamide in coffee substitutes. II. Product Composition Raw MaterialAcrylamide (µg/kg) Roasted Chicory2000 – 3000 Roasted Rye600 – 900 Roasted Malt400 – 800 Roasted Barley Quality Impact Recipe adjustments in direction of lower Acrylamide levels would result in significant changes in key quality attributes

The voice of the European food and drink industry Investigations in influence of Chicory roasting conditions on Acrylamide formation on two different roasting systems –Roast time –short (45 min) to long (85 min) –Degree of roast –very light to dark –Cutting shape (slices vs. semolina) Roast time variation with no effect – except at very short roast times Cutting shape with no effect Formation at roasting follows same pattern as in coffee III. Process Conditions

The voice of the European food and drink industry III. Process Conditions (continued) During the initial phase of roasting the Acrylamide formation starts rapidly. After reaching a maximum the level of Acrylamide decreases with continued roasting

The voice of the European food and drink industry Darker roasting slightly reduces the Acrylamide content. III. Process Conditions (continued) Quality Impact: As the roast degree is the main parameter to specify the sensorial quality of the roasted Chicory there are clear limitations in the degree of variations of the roasting

The voice of the European food and drink industry Sensorial properties The selection of the coffee substitutes blend and the specification of the process condition are determining the finished product sensorial properties. Any variation to reduce the Acrylamide level would result in significant quality changes – leaving only marginal options for reduction Future efforts will need to focus on agronomical factors and establish the degree of compositional change in the raw material in balance of the targeted reduction in Acrylamide with the impact on quality and nutritional aspects IV. Finished Product Characteristics