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Comment by ScottWhigham | Hacker News Reader

Tests at two midsized Wisconsin roasteries that agreed to let the news organization analyze the air in their production areas found diacetyl levels from unflavored roasted coffee that exceeded safety standards proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why, why would these commercial roasters allow a "news organization" to analyze the air? Maybe you allow - maybe - a scientific-based organization to do the testing but a news organization has an agenda. Full stop.

"Boss, can I go analyze the air down at Big Coffee Roaster's facility?"

"What for?"

"I read this comment on reddit about diactyl - it's supposedly really bad and most people don't know about it. I bet it's all over that facility and they don't know it."

"This could be huge - make sure you bring back something good..."

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From the article, it sounds like the news organization offered to pay for an industrial hygienist, associated with the local university, to conduct the study. The human interest side of the story discusses how the founders of one Roaster were interested in the well being of Mexican coffee farmers, which could imply that they would be interested in the well being of their own employees as well. This is further confirmed by that Roaster working with National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to prevent the high exposure levels found in the news agency study. Also, there were some papers published implying that the levels would be high, so if the news agency did their homework they could be chasing down a likely lead instead of just randomly looking to cause trouble. It sounds a lot like asbestosis, which is a horrible way to go; raising the public and industrial knowledge about a preventable cause is doing humane good.

The human interest side of the story discusses how the founders of one Roaster were interested in the well being of Mexican coffee farmers

Which is exactly how one would spin it so that the CEO of the roaster would buy into it...

I know - cynical.

I run a small organic food business on the side and I'd be happy if someone offered me to test our products. We can't afford it and have to rely on our suppliers.

That's especially true if, as it appears from the quote, the results would be treated anonymously. And for these roasters the risk is even lower because the danger is not to the consumer.

Yes, cynical. Just Coffee is a cooperative; they don't have a CEO. http://justcoffee.coop/about/

At the end of the article, the "About This Project" section explains that "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Raquel Rutledge investigated the hazards of diacetyl and other chemicals used in the flavoring industry during a nine-month O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism through the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University. This is part of an ongoing series of stories." Part 1 is here: http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/gasping-for-action-32298865...

>Why, why would these commercial roasters allow a "news organization" to analyze the air?

It is sort of bizarre. Maybe they were naive, or thought it would be harmless. Or, maybe they were genuinely curious above what could be a potential health issue and said, "have at it". The validity of the test aside, the issue will now get attention (probably too much attention).

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