STiR coffee and tea magazine

36 STiR coffee and tea | 2025 Quarter 4 Winter (Dec/Jan/Feb) C By Fionn Pooler offee is healthy — officially. As of April 2025, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that coffee products containing fewer than five calories per 12 ounces now automatically qualify for the "healthy" label. The updated ruling is part of the agency's attempt to help consumers identify which foods and beverages can be part of a balanced diet. "The 'healthy' claim can empower consumers by providing a quick signal on food package labels to help con- sumers identify foundational foods for building healthy dietary patterns," the FDA said in an announcement. The National Coffee Association (NCA), which has been a keen promoter of cof- fee's health benefits for years and wrote in support of the move in 2023, welcomed the ruling. "FDA's determination that plain coffee automatically qualifies to be labeled as 'healthy' is remarkably important not only for the coffee industry, but also for the two- thirds of Americans who drink coffee each day," NCA CEO and president William "Bill" Murray says. "We know that Americans are more interested than ever in how their diet choices impact health, and we think that knowing more about coffee's as- sociation with health benefits will just give Americans yet another reason to love their favorite beverage." Researchers have been studying coffee's impact on various diseases and conditions for decades, and the majority have found that, yes, coffee is beneficial. The FDA's ruling bestows an official stamp on this belief, and also adds an air of legitimacy to the growing crossover between the coffee and wellness industries. Science Says Coffee Is Healthy — Mostly Coffee is hugely popular. In the United States, it often overtakes water as the country's most consumed beverage — in its Spring 2025 National Coffee Data Trends report, NCA found that 66% of American adults drink coffee every single day. Possibly due to its widespread con- sumption, coffee is very well-studied: as of 2021, there were nearly 50,000 pa- pers that included the words "coffee" or "caffeine" in the PubMed literature database. For decades, researchers have been investigating the impact of coffee on health, from specific diseases such as Alzheimer's and diabetes to broader top- ics like mortality itself. In general, the consensus so far is that coffee, both caffeinated and decaffein- ated, is considered healthy. One recent study found that drinking coffee, specifi- cally in the morning, reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease; another linked coffee consumption to a reduced risk of developing head and neck cancers. Multiple studies have found that drink- ing coffee can help mitigate the effects of aging, both physically and mentally. One study even found that just the anticipation of drinking coffee can have the same ef- fect as caffeine on energy levels. Coffee's Healthy Moment Coffee is experiencing a healthy moment as more studies emerge linking coffee consumption to positive health benefits, and the wellness market continues to expand. NCA CEO and president William "Bill" Murray lobbied for coffee's healthy classification for years. Photo credit: National Coffee Association

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