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Finding Toxin-Free Coffee: What to Look For.
“Is your coffee toxin-free coffee?”
This is the question I have been asked many times by other healthcare professionals/ coffee enthusiasts over the last few months. I found it to be an interesting question, worthy of research so I decided to use my resources so we can see if there is any validity to the question.
Is there really a valid health concern about toxin levels in coffee based on the current research at hand?
Let’s start by learning what toxin we are addressing in realm of coffee.
 
Ochratoxin A (OTA)
To answer this question we will need a little background…
The toxin most people are concerned about is Ochratoxin A. It is naturally present in many crop products, such as cereals, coffee beans, cocoa and dried fruit. The tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of Ochratoxin A is 120 ng/kg body weight.2
Ochratoxin belongs to the overall category called Myotoxins, which are secondary metabolites produced by mold, which can be taken in through eating and drinking. Despite attempts to rid our food of these toxins still are present in most foods. Currently, the U.S. has no standards for OTA levels in coffee as some other countries do.
 
What does mold need to grow in coffee?
Mold, just like any other organism on earth, needs a few things to grow. Mold needs water, oxygen, and an ideal temperature (~40 – 100 degrees F). In tropical climates, water can be attained through high humidity and oxygen is more abundant at lower elevations.
The elevation is an important variable in choosing a toxin-free coffee. Coffee is grown at low elevations (under 2,500 ft. or 762m), high elevations (under 5,000 ft. or 1,500m), and everywhere in between. Higher elevations have less oxygen, which is why it is harder to breath in the mountains than at sea level. Lack of oxygen in the higher elevation will slow mold growth.
Also the presence of caffeine has been shown inhibits mold growth. As little as 2mg/ml in the area of the mold has been found to completely inhibited mold growth in some studies.1 If you’re concerned about mold and toxins, perhaps you should not drink decaf coffees.
 
How to Process an OTA toxin-free coffee on the coffee farm
The way in which coffee is grown, harvested, stored, and processed all have an effect on the amount of toxins entering your cup. Even the elevation at which a coffee plant is grown has an effect. How a coffee bean is processed, or de-pulped and prepped for drying, is a simple thing to ask a coffee seller.
There are three types of processing of a coffee cherry: wet, dry and semi-dry. Wet processing is known as the more “toxin free” way to process a coffee bean. Dry, also called unwashed or natural coffee, is the more traditional way. Semi- dry is also called wet-hulled, semi-washed, pulped natural or Indonesia Giling Basah.
 
Dry Processing:
Let’s start with a short description of dry processing since we will focus majority of our attention on wet processing. Dry processing is where the coffee cherry (pulp and all) is left in the sun to dry for around 4 weeks. Just think of a piece of fruit being dried in the sun for weeks. Exposure of the coffee cherry pulp to the environment presents a good chance for mold to grow. Mold produces Ochratoxin A and leaves it sitting on the skin of the coffee bean after the pulp is removed. Interestingly, I have heard dry processing produces more flavorful coffee, as the fruit is actually drying around the coffee bean, allowing for saturation of the flavors.
 
Here is a list of some coffees often subjected to dry processing due to high humidity or frequent rain during coffee harvesting season.

Brazil Arabica coffee beans
Ethiopia Arabica coffee beans
Haiti Arabica coffee beans
Paraguay Arabica coffee beans

 
Most Robusta coffee is dry processed. Robusta is the opposite of Arabi