Are you drinking coffee with hidden defects?
The health benefits of coffee are well known, including protective effects from heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. This is likely due to the nutritional content of phytochemicals, magnesium, potassium and vitamin B all of which contribute to the elimination of free radicals and boosting metabolism (Harvard Health, 2020).
But chances are good that the coffee you’re drinking contains something which could be undermining these positive effects. Mycotoxins are potentially harmful compounds found in coffee, produced by mould. These moulds are small fungi that can grow on coffee beans if they are incorrectly stored after a crop harvest.
The health impacts of mould are well documented; from brain fog to joint pain and of course inflammation. Have you ever felt jittery after a coffee? It’s likely that this wasn’t from the caffeine, but rather a side-effect of mould. The cost to the individual’s health and wellbeing are significant, and when you consider the impact on a business’s team, the cost of mycotoxins are extensive.
YourBeans Founder Gina Di Brita has travelled extensively to many different coffee growing regions. Her passion for coffee and commitment to quality at every point, from harvest to post-production ensure we produce defect free, 100% arabica coffee sourced direct trade from our small-scale farmers.
Gina is an international specialist coffee judge with over eighteen years industry experience in sourcing and purchasing green coffees. She is currently working with Australia’s closest coffee producers (smallholder farmers) in Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea to assist in improving coffee quality and production, to raise their competitiveness in the global market. Gina does this to realise her goal of seeing more money in the coffee supply chain flowing back to the farmers and their families, to raise standards of living.
YourBeans Commitment
For our Private Label clients, we understand that to attach your logo and label to any product, it must meet the highest standards of quality and safety. At YourBeans, we make a commitment to produce 100% defect free coffee.
Before I buy any coffee – whether direct trade or through a green bean importer – I use cupping and tasting protocols that hold our coffee to the highest international standard. These protocols are designed to identify harmful defects (such as mould), but also to determine the quality in the cup ie: flavours, acidity, sweets, aftertaste and body.
Gina Di Brita
References:
Harvard Health. (2020, November 1). Moderate amounts of coffee are the best. Harvard Health Blog. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/moderate-amounts-of-coffee-are-the-best#:~:text=Drinking%20two%20to%20five%20daily,coffee%20is%20the%20best%20medicine.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (n.d) Coffee. Food Features. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/coffee/