A F GC AS OL E
Axsodlation dés Fabricants de’ Café Solusie des Pays ce la Communauté Europdenne
Vereniging van Koltiepoederlabnkanten van de Landen van da Europese Gemeanscnap
‘Associazione dei Fabbricanti i Caffe Sofubile del Paes! della Commurite Europes
‘Versiniqunig dar Heratoller von lesichem Kaffee der Eureadizchen Gamoinschatt
Association of Solubié Coflee Manufbeturo‘e of the Eurepasn Community
‘Asoclacist 66 fabricanias da cals soluble da la Comunidad Europea
BD/CPD/65/95 th Juiy 1995
AFCASOLE STATEMENT ON SOLUBLE COFFEE AUTHENTICITY
‘The aurhenticity of Soluble ‘coffee is en issue of major imporiance for AFCASOLE, the
European’ Soluble Coffee Produces’ Organisation. As the EU Commission has included this
Subject amongst the 1995 Programme for Official Control of Foodstuffs in the European Union,
‘AFCASOLE wishes to state the industry's position on this matter,
Consensus-based guidelines and definitions
'n the preamble to the International Coffee Agreements of 1983; 1989 and 7894', the
[Importance of coffee for the economics of coffee growing countries and as a world markat
commodity is stated by the Intemational Coitee Organisation; an intergovernmertal body of
‘coffee producer and consumer countries. Subsequent articles of the agreement qive definitions
of coffee and its products:
green coffee as the naked coffee beans before roasting:
+ Which ylelds by roasting to any degree the roasted coffee, which may be gtound as well,
+ Soluble coffee as the cried water-soluble sollds derived thereo!2
‘These latter terms ate identica to the 180 terminology? for soluble/instant coffee, to be the
dled, water#soluble. product obtained exclusively from roasted. coffee by extraction via
physical methods using water as the only agent that is not derived from coffee, whilst the
toasted coifes is obtained by roasting the green coffee, i.e. the dried seed of the coffee plant.
‘Legal requirements
Various producing countries have éstablished quality classitications for green coffee, serving
the purpose of trade regulations, which are partly quoted in the ISO green coffee defect
‘reference charts.
For ‘green coffees imported to the USA, the American’ FDA® hes established putty
Tequirements, to ensure the authenticity of the product naught by the consumer’ With the
1 100-Couril of sa icematcnat Cafes Orgariseton, Rosck. N° 349 or an iter. Cotes Agreement, tender, Oct 9, nd
rent 1 tho Inter, Coes Agreements 19848904, eubished by 100 Londen 1802 ok,
OMe. Cotes Areantent 1894, raptor J, a2, (1) (and) ICO Landon, Ast 9a
$180 item. Organization fo Stadersizaon, i “Coins and ts product ~ Vocabulary” 190 3600.03 - 1689
1g 80. la Green cote ~ Detect referee chant =iS0 10470 ~ 1603, 1 be agaeoved by fa votang
FDA Foed and trug Adminiavation, in Comptance Pokey Guides Nena, Pokey Culse 7101.09
18, rue de le Pépiniere - 75008 Pavis- Tel: [1) 83:2 19.38 - Pax (1) $4.42 12.90,‘same purpose for soluble coffee, the European Council Directive on Coffee Extracts, etc.¢,
provides for definitions, the purity principle and analytical procedures, and this Directive has
been Implemented in all EU Member States.
Official Surveys
‘A national surveillance exercise on the soluble coffee market was performed in the United
Kingdom in 19897, Upon request by the UK, the European authorities introduced the checking
tor adulteration of soluble coffee by non bean material into the Eurpean Co-ordinated Control
‘Programme 1895%, according to the Council Directive on the Official Controt of Foodstutfs®.
Confirmation
Genuine Soluble coffee is manufactured by water extraction of pure roasted coffee from sound
beans, according to the provisions mentioned above (cf. 6).
Whereas visual inspection can confinn the genuineness of green’ coifee, the use of more
‘sophisticated analyses is necessary to check the legal compliance of finished soluble cotfes.
Hore. AFCASOLE, the European Soluble Coffee Manufacturers Organization has taken up the
matter in 1880, in order to detect accidental or fraudulent additions to soluble coffee, for
‘example coffee husks/perchment from processing, or cofies substitutes. The identification of
‘Such additions can be achieved by pattern recognition of free and total carbohydrate profiles,
‘with the various analytical methods elaborated during the past yeare"®, The method preferred
foday was checked by an intemational collaborative study under AFCASOLE auspices in
18924, published as ISO Standard in 19952, and adopted "first ection* as an offical method of
analysis by ACAG in 19958,
“State of knowledge
‘When analysing soluble coffees sold on the merket, without any knowledge of the taw material
used, the full range of the retail instant cotfees may be divided into several groups of markedly
different composition in carsohydrates, as shown since the first investigations on the subject®*.
The majority is presumed to be the soluble coffees made from genuine green coffees. They
‘show a series of carbohydrates, which are present either ree or as galactoriannans end
arabinogalactan-type polysaccharides. There is no maltose (there is no malt in coffee), very
__ ltie free and total xylose (no. woods, very few undeliberate defects) and low contents of
‘sucrose, glucose and fructose, whith are affected by the solubliisation process, as pointed out
in separate series of investigations,
8 coun Dace 7/0610 on ite ate apd eh exact, sy 977A 1,2 alanis by he
_araning Covel Drecis SSS7HEEG Dea t058 ap 7 ;
ae Ministry of Agricutcre, Flaherleé and Foed, UK Instant Cotiea Survailidnce Exirciae, ia Facd ard Safsty Butetn,
‘
8 Feb ts EU Coin rae a oor ofl core rogtamra fr toed fot te yor 1868, Coren
7 ks of 2c March, 18
‘Geunel Disolve S9SE7IEEC on Ofkal Cot of Feats, June 69, At 14
10 Gsvaien-Janaen 8. AS, tah, Kyoto, Gash nat
1 roti, Guanes, Feber td RONG a 78 765-762 (998)
150, i instant Cole - Ditarnraion ot ue and atl cart! la onli. « athe ving high eaéanmande anion
sgtange chromatography bleed at 0 200: 105 (Sore 1095
‘ADAG late. Procite ay 28,1288
"4 ABICS Symposium Sas Past 107a8-
Ranges of Carbohydrates composition in soluble cottee
‘On the basis of these data, the carbohycirate pattern of a product can assess its authenticity,
‘sven though the products raw material input is unknown. In addition, the analytical results for
an Important number of commercial soluble coffees and, for comparison, for series of
‘especially prepared samples, give évidence™ that besides a pattem recognition, some
carbohydrates may be quantitatively used as Key parameters far the soluble coffee's purity; In
this context, the xylose content may be used as most helpful indicator of possible adulteration,
and secondly glucose & fructose. ‘Where analytically available, the mannitol content may be
used in parallel to the xylose value. The maximum carbohydrate contents for genuine soluble
coffee, expressed on dry matter besis, derived from the database of the. 1000 commercial
Soluble coffees, so far available are given in table 1 below.
‘Table 1: Maximum content of indicator carbohydrates in soluble coffees.
_ [indicator Carbohydrate | “Free Fructose | Total Glucose | Total Xyiose
Maximum Content 0.60%. 24% 0.40%}
‘The analytical varlablity of the data depends on the methods used. Also carbohiydrete contents
extracted from the roasted bean may change significantly with new emerging technologies.
‘Analytical methods
‘There is a broad range of experienced analytical techniques available, from:
= simple: and repld thin layer’ and paper chromatographic metheds'® for monitoring of
sactharides,
‘= enzymatic determination of tree and total glucose and fructose",
= combination of capillary gas chromatography after pre column detivatisation of mono end
disaccharides for free carbohydrates, and HPLC with post column derivatisation of the
hydrolysate for total carbohydrates, as given in two ISO draft standards in'1988"*,
~ different HPLC techniques with determination after post column reaction, as partition HPLC
‘on amino bonded silica phases with tetrazolium blue reaction for reducing sugars®, or on
cation exchange colurins load with silver, calcium or lead with p-amincbenzoyinydrazida
reaction for mono and cisaccherides®, or
= most recently, High Pressure Anion Exchange (HPAE) chromatography ‘with amperometric
detection for mono and disaccharides as well as sugar alcohols, the latter approved 2s
new ISO Standard 11262 for the determination of tree and total tarbohydrate profiles of
soluble coffee,
x onde Pear ik ere ‘and 761-767 (1905)
iaplin M.F., Monosacctiatides in Cesbohydrate Analyels, A practica! approach, IAL Pres Oxford 1988, p.
at as Aci bmn vba. Terre 2a (001 9502 i:
201 and 11202! TUE, esata Noyes RM. al. ABIG 14h Couian en Fails (18%), 9202-250,
‘en in ISO substituted by 180 DIS 11292 of 1999. ae
Be caret fA Food Cn 97 (180), 9. as00
: Formia RA. ot eld, Chitom. 802 (1907), p: 127~124
21 Predalfet J. et a, ASIC 14h Colloquium (1991) San Francisco, 9, 211-214
$4Evaluation
‘Ail thage methods were tised for the verious cerbotydrete investigations, which have resulted
inthe pool of data mentioned above,
precision data can'ditfer according to the method used and to the experience of the analyst
For the HPAE-technique, they have been evaluated In an interlaboratory test in 1982 with @
standardised procedure, The method being very tecent (1992), the reproducibility ranges ero
therefore relatively high, but ere expected to be widaly underdrawn with increasing practice.
However, the values used by ISO are based on the frst seres.of results (1992) and are given
in the table below,
Table 2: Maximum Contents of carbohydrates in instant coffees with reproducibility
intervals of HPAE-determination
indicator Garbohydrate| Free Fructose Total Glucose Total Xyiose |
‘Maximum Content | ___0,60% 21% 0,40%
Field of Determination O05-56 | 008-166 Otis
Reproducibility 55-452 125-243 02-370
[Repeatability 02-212 30-82 |. 37-228
‘his reproducibility range will be furthet reduced as the result of continued practice.
in good analytical préctiog, any value within the vaviability interval around the maximum limit
has to 08 rechecked,
Conclusion
“The large data base’on carbohydrate contents of soluble coffee which is progressively
becoming avellable. now provides a sound basis tor the analytical confirmetion of the
authenticity of soluble coffee: of for an indication of soluble coffee adulteration.
AFCASOLE therefore states thet carbohydrate values In soluble coffee, manutactured with
cuirent technologies which exceed those specified in table 1, indicate, in principle, the
presence of non bean material.
Good analytical practice as cutiined it table 2 shouldbe respected,
‘The targets of suich controls are to ensure authentic quality standards, protéction against fraud
and guarantee ot fair trade.
Pate ps Qos”
J.B. ROTHFOS Dre: VIAN
President of AFCASOLE ‘Chairman of the AFCASOLE T.C.