European Water Process - KVW

KVW (Kaffe Veredlvngs Werk) or European Water Process

The KVW process, done in West Germany, is widely known for producing some of the best tasting decaffeinated coffees available. Instead of water, the coffee is submerged in methylene chloride. The chemical bonds to the caffeine molecules in the beans and extracts approximately 97% of the caffeine this way.

Chemical Residues
In today's health conscious world, most people are looking into the types and amounts of chemicals that they are putting into their bodies. Therefore, when someone is avoiding caffeine by drinking decaffe coffees, they would like to also avoid any chemicals from the decaffeination process. Contrary to popular belief, coffee that has been decaffeinated by the KVW process contains no traces of any methylene chloride.

The Food and Drug Administration has set its official safety limit at 10 parts per million(ppm). The KVW process guarantees 5ppm or lower; although the process generally produces less than 1ppm. An independent laboratory test was conducted to establish the levels of methylene chloride in green coffee that has been decaffeinated with the KVW process. With a sensitivity of 1ppm, the tests found no methylene chloride in the beans. Even if some traces of methylene chloride did remain in the beans, the methods used to prepare the coffee would destroy them. Methylene chloride evaporates at 170°F and the beans are roasted at temperatures exceeding 425°F. So any remnants of the chemical would evaporate when the beans are roasted.

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See also

Swiss Water Process

Mountain Water Process

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