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Recent recalls of canned cold-brew coffees have raised awareness of the importance of food and safety protocols in the specialty coffee industry. Photo credit: Death Wish Coffee
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Hiring a third-party processing authority ensures production methods are safe. Photo credit: Donovan Kelly
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Tea has a similar pH to coffee and is often stabilized using citric acid, which imparts a refreshing, lemony flavor, making it safe to drink and easy to market. Photo credit: diemobiltenfotografe
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Many specialty coffee businesses are expanding into the increasing RTD coffee market. Photo credit: Zeynep Hiz
Perspective by Matthew Swenson
The increase in demand for ready-to-drink specialty coffee is challenging the industry to deliver the same great-tasting specialty-café experience in a bottle while ensuring the product is safe for mass distribution and consumption.
"Coffee has never caused a foodborne outbreak.” Most food safety experts could have reasonably agreed with this statement 25 years ago, based on the limited information available about coffee production and a relatively high degree of confidence, at least regarding roasted and ground coffee. However, the coffee world today is much more complex.
On June 17, 2024, Snapchill LLC shook the specialty coffee industry by highlighting a critical issue—food safety in RTD (ready-to-drink) coffee. Snapchill, which pioneered a large-scale hot-brewing-flash-chilling process, faced food safety challenges, igniting a much-needed conversation about food safety in liquid coffee production. The company recalled its canned coffee products due to potential contamination with ‘Clostridium botulinum’ (commonly known as botulism). This potentially deadly toxin, a relatively new entrant into the coffee industry conversation, gained attention because of the rapid growth of cold brew and liquid coffee products entering the U.S. consumer packaged goods (CPG) space.
In earlier decades, the primary quality concerns for small to medium roasters were oxidation, which causes stale-tasting coffee, or packaging foreign materials. Neither issue would have involved the FDA or required a nationwide recall due to a potentially deadly toxin. Roast and ground coffee are generally considered safe and shelf-stable. Low moisture and water activity in green and roasted coffee prevent mold or mycotoxin growth, and the robust packaging of multi-layered metalized bags keeps products safe. So why are we seeing changes now?
The specialty coffee sector has experienced tremendous growth over the last two to three decades, driven by consumer demand for high-quality and traceable coffees. This demand has fueled continuous innovation and exploration in the industry. Consumers have embraced new brewing methods, exotic flavor profiles, and various coffee formats and temperatures. One significant trend is the shift toward cold coffee beverages, particularly cold brew. According to recent earnings reports, cold beverages now account for nearly 75% of sales at Starbucks cafes, a trend mirrored in specialty coffee shops across the U.S.
Many local cafes looking to scale their business view expanding into RTD as a logical step to capture the growing cold coffee market. However, while this move presents a great entrepreneurial opportunity, scaling a coffee brand from a café setting to the CPG market introduces real challenges. Brewing methods that work well in a café don’t always translate seamlessly to mass production. Scaling up requires a deep understanding of brewing, extraction, and food safety protocols. Delivering the same great-tasting specialty-café experience in a bottle while ensuring the product is safe for mass distribution and consumption remains an ongoing challenge for the industry.
Within food service operations focused on immediate consumption, local health departments effectively enforce standards and practices for food and beverage preparation and storage. However, a significant gap emerges when these operations scale into the CPG market. HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) plans and food safety schemes like SQF (Safe Quality Food) have existed for decades, primarily in the industrial food and beverage space. While these protocols are present in the coffee industry, they are mostly limited to well-resourced industrial-scale roasters with sizable CPG roast and ground (R&G) and pod businesses. This is because traditional “dry” coffee formats pose relatively low food safety risks.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has always played a background role in the coffee industry, focusing mainly on import/export and large-scale production. However, as the industry shifts more toward liquid coffee production for distribution, FDA’s role becomes more critical, as does the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) for Europe’s RTD coffee market.
When a manufacturer extracts coffee for mass production—whether brewed hot or cold—the liquid has a pH of roughly 5.0-6.0. This places it within FDA’s classification of a “low-acid food,” a category requiring strict safety standards due to its susceptibility to microbial contamination. Simply put, the acidity in coffee isn’t strong enough to act as a natural stabilizer, making it prone to fostering pathogenic growth. To solve this, manufacturers must “process” the coffee with a “kill step,” such as hot-fill, aseptic processing, or retort, or they can reduce the pH by adding acid to the beverage. Have you ever purchased a bottle of RTD iced tea with a lemon flavor? Tea has a similar pH to coffee, and adding citric acid not only reduces the pH to below 4.6 but also allows for marketing it as iced tea with “a splash of lemon.”
Back in 2018, Death Wish Coffee faced a high-profile recall after botulism concerns arose due to an oversight in the production process of its canned nitro cold brew product. Although no contamination was found, the company quickly recalled the product and took responsibility for the potential risk. They engaged a process authority to resolve the issue and ensure safe future batches. This incident serves as a cautionary tale for the industry, illustrating how safety oversights, even with the best intentions, can have serious consequences for both the company and consumer confidence. Not all companies recover as well as Death Wish, which remarkably grew from that point. The recent Boar’s Head listeria outbreak serves as a reminder that only time will tell how some companies fare in the face of such challenges.
Those companies exploring or currently producing cold brew at scale whose enthusiasm has not been dampened by the mention of botulism and FDA oversight should consider hiring a process authority. These can be found on the FDA’s or EFSA’s websites. A processing authority validates production processes by conducting challenge studies and ensures the entire process is safe by design.
Bridging the gap between safety awareness and practices requires a multifaceted approach. While stronger regulations and standards could help, a more effective solution lies in promoting industry-wide education and fostering a culture of safety.
The consumer base is evolving rapidly, and cold coffee is becoming the new norm for a growing segment of the market. By placing as much emphasis on safety as on creativity and quality, businesses can develop a mindset where safe practices are prioritized at every stage of production. Participants should lead by example, demonstrating their commitment to safety and encouraging others to follow suit.
Leaders in the specialty coffee industry are responsible for instilling dependable practices in this quickly evolving, innovation-driven industry for future generations. Millions of livelihoods around the globe depend on it.