Coffee and health--a new perspective.

For many people coffee is perceived as a health risk and this is one of the major factors limiting its consumption in many countries, states the International Coffee Organization. "It is common," said Dr Illy, chairperson of the promotion committee of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), "to find misinformation on coffee and health disseminated that is 30 to 40 years old and frequently derived from outdated scientific literature and methods of research no longer acceptable."

Recent scientific work shows very different results. The overwhelming bulk of evidence shows that moderate coffee drinking is perfectly safe--and is in no way a health risk. What emerges clearly from recent studies is the fact that coffee is mote than caffeine and that the complexity of its chemical composition is responsible for the many new effects discovered.

The ICO is addressing these outdated beliefs with the launch of the Positively Coffee Web site www.positivelycoffee.org. This site provides interested consumers and others with information on specific topics where independent scientific studies have shown coffee drinking to be beneficial to health. Since the start of the Positively Coffee Program in 2001, background information and summaries on a number of important topics concerning coffee and health have been prepared.

This fully referenced material was distributed initially to national coffee sectors around the world to support local activities in those markets. It is now being included on the Positively Coffee Website. To see what is available, visit the site at:www.positivelycoffee.org. For more information, contact Sylvia Robert-Sargeant, Coordinator, Positively Coffee Program, at [e-mail].