FDA weighs decaf solvent rules as coffee industry faces scrutiny
FDA has reopened the decaf solvent fight, with methylene chloride still capped at 10 ppm in coffee. Roasters warn a tighter rule could raise costs and shrink supply.
The FDA closed a reopened comment period on June 29 for a petition that could strip methylene chloride from decaf production. Federal rules still allow methylene chloride residue in decaffeinated roasted coffee and decaffeinated soluble coffee extract up to 10 parts per million, a limit that has kept the method in use even as the chemical draws sharper scrutiny.
The petition seeks to remove food-additive authorizations for benzene, ethylene dichloride, methylene chloride and trichloroethylene. It was filed on December 21, 2023 by Environmental Defense Fund, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, the Center for Environmental Health, the Environmental Working Group and Lisa Lefferts. FDA first posted notice of the petition on January 11, 2024, then reopened the comment period on May 28, 2026 to gather updated data and other information from the last two years. The docket, FDA-2023-F-5684, remains under review.
For coffee, methylene chloride is still used in some commercial decaf production and is often called the European method in trade circles. About 10% of U.S. adults, roughly 26 million people, drink decaf every day, and the majority of decaffeinated coffee has been made this way for more than 50 years — National Coffee Association. Nearly all decaffeination happens outside the United States, with Germany the top source of unroasted decaffeinated beans and Italy and Switzerland the second and third largest sources for imported roasted decaffeinated beans — National Coffee Association.
Other decaffeination methods are less widely available and more expensive to scale — National Coffee Association. FDA has said the risk from methylene chloride residue in decaf coffee is “essentially non-existent.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a methylene chloride rule on April 30, 2024 that took effect on July 8, 2024 and restricts consumer access and most commercial uses while allowing a time-limited exemption for critical or essential uses with no technically and economically feasible safer alternative.
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