Comment from Khaled Zeid
AnonymousOpposeIndividual
Summary: The commenter argues that the use of methylene chloride in decaffeination is a safe, well-established industrial process with sufficient safety margins provided by roasting and brewing. They advocate for maintaining current FDA limits based on empirical science rather than speculative concerns or perceptions.
The use of methylene chloride (MC) in decaffeination is a safe, proven industrial process. From a chemical perspective, its extremely low boiling point of 40C ensures that it is effectively eliminated during processing, and the current FDA limit of 10 ppm—applied prior to roasting—is an exceptionally safe threshold supported by a lack of toxicological evidence suggesting risk to human health. Furthermore, roasting (approx. 200C) and brewing (100C) provide redundant safety margins for such a highly volatile substance. Regulatory evaluations must remain grounded in robust, objective science; reopening this issue without a specific scientific basis risks creating precedents that could inadvertently affect other sectors, such as the use of nitrates in cured meats or the presence of ethanol in wine, beer, and other beverages—all of which are safely managed through existing science-based frameworks. I believe that food safety policy should remain centered on established scientific data rather than perceptions, ensuring that industry standards continue to be governed by empirical evidence rather than speculative concerns.