Course:FNH200/2013w Team15 Coffee

The Love For Coffee

Coffee, whether brewed or instant, is a staple in the everyday lives of Canadians. According to a study done in 2011, approximately 65% of Canadians consume coffee on a daily basis, with it being the second most preferred beverage, only behind water as number one . Regardless of where Canadians receive their daily cup of coffee from, consumers are able to choose from a wide variety of flavour and strengths, which allow for the perfect cup to be catered to each individual’s desires. Making a cup of coffee is considered an art by many, requiring multiple attempts in order to make it just right but Canadians rarely stop to think about the origins of their coffee beans, from the planting of the seed, to the packaging of the end product. Consumers almost never question the safety of the coffee that they are drinking as they know that their product has been approved to be sold. But what exactly are these regulations in place that ensure that no diseased or infected beans remain in the end product, and how do these regulations affect how our coffee is packaged and traded around the world? We will look to briefly examine the production, processing, and packaging aspects of coffee, however, with the focus on the regulatory aspects that are in place to ensure a set standard.

Growing Coffee

Planting

Coffee is grown in numerous countries between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, with the two most commonly grown species, Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta generally grown in Latin America, Africa, and South-east Asia . Rather than coffee being the fruit, or cherries of the trees, coffee is harvested from the seeds found within these cherries . Coffea trees require shade from bright sunlight during the first few stages of growth; however, a sufficient amount of rain is required throughout the lifespan of the tree. The warm climate and heavy rainfall is what makes these countries near the equator so suitable for growing coffee .

Harvesting

Coffee Cherries at Various Stages of Ripeness

Coffee plants normally bear fruits,coffee cherries, around 3-4 years after its plantation. The Coffee cherries have bright, deep red color and ready to harvest upon its ripening stage. The harvest of coffee cherries could be done by labor-intensive hand picking or by machine. These harvested cherries will be process to produce ‘green coffee’ (unroasted coffee beans). There are two ways to harvest coffee. First, is ‘strip picking’ which is when all coffee cherries are harvested from its trees all at once. This method, is either done by using human labor or machine, while the second method is ‘selective picking', where only the cherries that are ripen at its peak are individually picked by hand. Through this method farmers are able to gain higher quality coffee beans but also increase the cost.

Canadian Regulations

Coffee is one of the most popular hot beverages in Canada, even though Canadian weather is not suitable to grow coffee. All of the coffee needed are imported as raw materials, and processed, distributed and sold in domestic market . The tea and coffee industry is a big part of the Canadian economy, in which it comprises 1.1% of the total value of food and beverage sales of goods manufactured and 0.9% of manufacturing employment in 2008 (see http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/the-canadian-tea-and-coffee-industry-table/?id=1214847829112 for more information) . Coffee also has its regulatory framework, in which processed coffee is governed by different laws to satisfy the Canadian requirements for processed foods.

Food and Drugs Act

Also known as Food and Drugs Regulation, it gives authority to Health Canada to establish standards for safety and nutritional quality of all foods sold in Canada, including coffee. In addition, this act gives power to Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in enforcing all health and safety standards under this act. The main intent of this act is to protect Canadians from the health hazards and fraud in the sale of domestic or imported products (e.g. foods, drug, cosmetics and medical devices) . Therefore, FDA makes the coffee manufacturers aware of the conditions set by the government so that their consumers will have confidence in the safety of the purchased products.

Packaging and Labelling

As part of the processed commodities, coffee is also subjected to Canadian rules on packaging and labelling. The Coffee Association of Canada is a national trade association in which it represents the coffee industry in Canada. They make sure coffee manufacturers and producers are aware of the government policies that apply to them.

Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act

This act is enforced by CFIA to ensure that the product label doesn’t contain any false or misleading information regarding its origin, quality, performance, net weight and quantity . The purpose of this act is to:

• Provide a uniform method of labelling and packaging consumer goods, overcoming the confusion of different requirements under the legislation;
• Require full and factual label information from which consumers can make an informed choice in the marketplace;
• Prevent misrepresentation and deception in packaging and labelling; and
• Require the use of metric units of measurement and bilingual labelling.

Under this act, it provides standards for product packaging and labelling and to protect the consumers from false information. It requires every product (with some exemptions) being sold in Canadian market to have bilingual requirements, net quantity, size, manner of declaring net quantity, pictorial representations and standardization of container sizes.

In 2005, a proposed new exemption was published in Canadian Gazette, in which it exempts coffee to have the mandatory nutrition labelling. This is to remove any ambiguity in which the final product consist of insignificant amount on thirteen core nutrients, but this claim cannot be confirmed on an “as sold” basis . As of now, coffee beans are exempted from mandatory nutrition labelling.

Organic Product Regulations

Loose Leaf Tisanes - Sparrows Coffee

In Canada, there is a growing desire for organic foods and beverages that are environmental-friendly. The coffee industry capitalizes in this fact and introduces organic coffee. The government have specific conditions to claim that a particular food or beverage is organic. In 2009, the Organic Product Regulations was passed in Canada. Under this regulation, it requires every commodity claiming that it is organic to bear the ‘Canada organic’ seal. The certification is enforced by the CFIA and it is mandatory for interprovincial and international products. Under this regulation, the following claims are allowed:

• ”Organic”: organic products with organic content of greater than 95% may be labelled “organic” and bear the “Canada organic” logo
• ”% Organic ingredients”: multi-ingredient products with 70%-95% organic product content may use the claim “% organic ingredients” but cannot bear the “Canada organic” logo
• ”Organic” in the list of ingredients: multi-ingredient products with less than 70% organic content may identify organic products in the ingredient list and cannot bear the “Canada organic” logo.

Caffeine in Coffee

Caffeine is a type of stimulant which can exhibit a variety of biological effects, which includes insomnia, headaches, nervousness and irritability. Coffee contains caffeine, and considering the daily intake of an average Canadian (3.2 cups of coffee per day in 2013), large doses of caffeine is being consumed on a daily basis.

Coffee Product	Serving Size (mL)	Caffeine Content (mg)
Brewed	237	135
Roasted and ground, percolated	237	118
Roasted and ground, drip	237	179
Roasted and ground, decaffeinated	237	3
Instant	237	76-106
Instant Decaffeinated	237	5

Health Canada issued a food safety alert in 2013, reminding Canadians about their caffeine consumption. It is important to manage daily caffeine intake, especially for children aged below 13 and for pregnant women as caffeine can have adverse effects, like lower birth weights. It was suggested that a caffeine daily intake of 2.5mg/kg body weight for ages 13 and above. For children and pregnant women, the suggested daily intakes were summarize in the table below .

Age Group	Suggested maximum caffeine daily intake
Children aged 4 to 6	No more than 45 mg per day
Children aged 7 to 9	No more than 62.5 mg per day
Children aged 10 to 12	No more than 85 mg per day
Adolescents 13 above	No more than 2.5mg/kg body weight
Pregnant and breastfeeding women	No more than 300 mg per day - about 2 cups (237mL) of coffee
Healthy Adults	No more than 400 mg per day - about 3 cups (237mL) of coffee

American Regulations

Coffee is one of the most important beverages in many people’s lives now in this modern world, in which people live fast-paced life. Coffee is consumed in several forms: instant coffee powder, bottled coffee drinks sold in markets, or brewed coffee - either homemade or from a coffee house. We will explain which organizations are regulating the coffee industry in the U.S.A, and what their functional role is in the regulation of this relatively large industry and market – including the grading of green coffee beans, the labeling of coffee products, and the changing legislation governing the regulation of coffee in America.

Importation of Coffee bean in U.S.A

The United States is the second largest importer of coffee beans, and is still increasing its demand at a rapid rate, as it is forecast to rise to 23.5 million bags during 2014. Its top suppliers include Brazil (25%), Vietnam (18%), and Colombia (13%). Due to the specific climate requirements for coffee plants’ growth, only two major coffee industries exist in the United States of America, and are located in Hawaii and Puerto Rico .

The major government organizations that regulate the coffee industry in the U.S.A are:

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• The United States Department of Agriculture

Other government agencies that also regulate coffee industry in the U.S.A are:

- Homeland Security

- U.S. Customs and Border Protection

- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

- Department of Defense

• Non-Government Organizations:

- National Coffee Organization (a non-profit trade association concerned with the interests of domestic and foreign companies that are in operation in the U.S. coffee industry)

Quality Control of Coffee Beans

The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for examining and grading all imported coffee admitted into the country. Prior to entering into the country, the products undergo the macroscopic Wharf Examination , in which a visual test is performed by wharf examiners. They make a decision on whether the coffee beans are qualified for entry into the country, or decide if further investigation is needed in a laboratory analysis. During the lab analysis (which includes visual and X-Ray tests), examiners determine defects within individual beans, the amount of general contamination of a lot, as well as other defects which negatively affect the quality of the lot. Defects can be classified as internal deteriorations caused by insect infestation, physical damage, mold and fungal infection, or external contamination by foreign material from spillage and sweeps (discarded organic martial from animals like rodents, rats or birds). The deteriorated spots within coffee beans are called “imperfections”, and are considered as defects, which have occurred during the various stages of production. The recognized imperfections found amongst coffee beans include but is not limited to: “blacks”, “part blacks”, “browns”, “husks", “parchment”, “broken berries”, “sticks” and “stones”. During quality grading of coffee beans, these imperfections are taken into consideration when grading the quality and fitness of the product in terms of a score ranging from grade 1 to 9. Whereas grade one has complete freedom from imperfections, coffee beans that have more imperfections have lower grade values. Beans that are lower than Grade 8, or lower will be subjected to rejection upon entry.

Other Roles of the FDA in the Industry

The Food and Drug administration also monitors the coffee products sold in the United States, and inspects ingredients that are potentially harmful to human health. For example, on August 11th, 2012, with evidences found in laboratory analysis, the Food and Drug Administration called for public notification advising consumers not to buy or use Best Share Green Coffee, which was found to contain hidden traces of the drug sibutramine, which is known to cause stroke, heart disease, and other life-threatening conditions .

Exemption of Nutrition labeling

Just like most food products sold in markets, coffee products, such as a bottled coffee beverage and coffee powder, were required to provide nutrition labeling before May 8th, 1994, as Food and Drug Administration stated “food that contains insignificant amount of all nutrition contents required to be listed in nutrition labeling,such as coffee and spices".”After that, these products can be exempt from nutrition labeling, since there are significant amount of valuable nutrition.

European Union Regulations

European Union is the world largest coffee bean importer that take over half of the world coffee market. The coffee imported to the UE are usually in form of green, unroasted coffee for further coffee extracted process and re-export, which made the import of coffee not equals to EU’s coffee consumption. The reason why the beans were imported green is because the coffees are roasted differently depending on various regions of Europe. For example, in Nordic countries prefer light coffee while dark coffee is favored by Southern Europe countreis.

EU legislation: Coffee Extracts

According to the EU legislation on coffee extracts, the product which obtained from roasted coffee beans has requirement regarding their composition and product labelling in order for them to be legally available for commercial in EU market. The coffee products which considered as ‘coffee extract’ included Coffee extracts, Soluble coffee extracts, soluble coffee and instant coffee. The purposes of these requirement is to ensure quality of coffee in EU market and inform consumers.

Requirement on Composition

The products that wish to be label as coffee extract must follow these composition rules:

• Coffee extract should contain only soluble and aromatic constituent of coffee with exception for those technically to unremovable and insoluble oil in coffee.
  
• The required percentage of coffee-based dry matter content by weight of the coffee extracts must be not less than 95% for dried coffee extract, 70-85% for coffee extract paste and 15-55% for liquid coffee extract.
  
• In the other hand, the coffee extract in form of solid or paste must contain only those obtained from coffee extraction and liquid coffee should contain sugar not more than 12% of its weight.
  

Labeling

In addition to EU general food label requirement, coffee extracts have few specific labelling requirements.

• Must say ‘decaffeinated’ if the caffeine content is lower than 0.3% of the coffee-based dry matter by weight.
  
• If sugar is added, it must be shown by labeling with…, preserved with…, with added…. Or roasted with …., followed by the name of sugar(s) used.
  
• The minimum percentage of coffee-based dry matter should be labelled by the weight of the finished product in case of liquid coffee extracts and coffee extract pastes.
  
• The term ‘concentrated’ need to be label when the coffee-based dry matter content exceed 25% by the weight of the finished product.
  

Drinks other than coffee and tea must be term ‘high caffeine content’ when its contain caffeine exceeding 150 mg/l.

International Regulations

Trade regulation

In 1962 in order to stabilize the price of coffee and bring production into equilibrium with consumption, major coffee exporting and importing nations met and negotiated. This was called International Coffee Agreement (ICA). This led to the establishment of a new international organization, International Coffee Organization (ICO). Today, member countries are divided into two groups; 39 exporting members (eg. Brazil and Vietnam) and 6 importing members (eg. EU and United States), which means Member Governments represent 94% of world coffee production and over 75% of world consumption.

Diversification fund

Diversification Fund was a significant feature of 1963 Agreement, which required compulsory contributions from all exporting members so that they can finance reduction in coffee production and prevent the problem of coffee over-production. Today, this diversification is limited to times of price-crisis.

Quota system

1963 Agreement also set the quota system, which requires members to withhold coffee in excess of the apportioned quota (their share of consumer demand) back from the market. In 1976 Agreement changed the quota system to be used only when coffee price were low, and suspended when the price were too high so that it would meet the high demand. It was changed because in 1964 Brazil had a frost and it turned out that quota system was not effectual. In 1983 Agreement, the quota system was further amended. It was agreed to coordinate national production to meet market needs.

Fairtrade

File:Fair Trade coffee Norway.JPG

Fair Trade coffee Norway

Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products, but labour intensive crop that yields so little profit. Also, in developing countries, coffee is valuable to their economies.

Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on a partnership between producers and consumers. Fairtrade offers producers a better deal and improved terms of trade. This allows them the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future. Fairtrade offers consumers a powerful way to reduce poverty through their every day shopping

Fairtrade Standard for Coffee

• Producer organizations are paid a floor price (Fairtrade Minimum Price) of US 1.40 per pound for Fairtrade certified washed Arabica and US 1.35 for unwashed Arabica, or the market price, if higher.
  

• For Fairtrade certified organic coffee an extra minimum differential of US 30 cents per pound is being applied.
  

• A Fairtrade Premium of US 20 cents (with USD 5 cents earmarked for productivity and quality improvements) per pound is added to the purchase price and is used by producer organizations for social and economic investments at the community and organizational level.
  

• Fairtrade coffee certification is currently only open to small farmer organizations. Small farmers must be organized in organizations which they own and govern.
  

• Democratic decision making is required. Everybody has equal right to vote.
  

• Environmental standards restrict the use of agrochemicals and encourage sustainability.
  

• Pre-export lines of credit are given to the producer organizations. If requested, up to 60 % of the purchase price should be pre-financed to the producer organizations.
  

• Trade standards aim to encourage fairer negotiations, clarify the role of price fixing, and reduce speculation
  

Conclusion

Different regulations from different parts of the world are presented in this page. As coffee lovers, awareness to these regulations is the key to ensure the safety and quality of the coffee being consumed. Also, it can be noted that, these regulations are dependent on whether the coffee is being imported or being produced locally, thus, although some of the regulations address the same topic, the specifics vary. For example, in Canada, coffee is exclusively being imported from other countries, thus, labelling and packaging of coffee doesn't address the coffee grade (which is often determined by the country in which the coffee is imported) but in the United States, coffee grade is an integral part of quality control.

Exam Question

For coffee products sold in Canada, according to CFIA, which of the following is not mandatory for labeling?

A) Name and Address

B) Common name

C) Net quantity

D) Bilingual requirement

E) Nutrition fact

Answer: E. Coffee beans are exempted from mandatory nutrition labeling.

Presentation

Link : http://prezi.com/rrtpk3bkts3t/coffee-regulations/#