How three cups of coffee can cut Alzheimer's risk

Scotsman.com News

DRINKING three cups of coffee a day can significantly reduce the chance of developing Alzheimer's disease, say researchers.

A ten-year study of 600 elderly men found those getting a regular caffeine fix experienced a much smaller decline in their mental abilities than non coffee-drinkers.
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The results support earlier studies that show coffee has a protective effect on the brain.

Researchers believe caffeine may trigger a chain reaction in the brain that prevents the damage of Alzheimer's.

In a report on their findings, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, they raised the possibility that doctors may one day recommend coffee to the elderly.

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Did Starbucks' CEO Really Say That?

Todd Sullivan submits: In a recent DJ Newswire interview (sub. req.), SBUX CEO Jim Donald said a couple things that left me shaking my head. When asked about the effect that McDonald's premium coffee will have on his business, he said he expects it to be a benefit. The reason? Consumers who like McDonald's premium coffee will likely migrate to SBUX's super-premium. To quote Donald: "we see that migration happening." On its face, the statement does make sense but when you take a step back and think about it, you have to wonder - especially when you consider:

Consumer Reports recently compared coffees and came up with an interesting result. According to its tasters, Starbucks' (SBUX) coffee was outdone by McDonald's' (MCD) premium coffee offering.

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Starbucks goes healthy in removing trans fats

By Zhu Shenshen
Shanghai Daily

STARBUCKS Corp will remove unhealthy trans fatty acids from its products in China within the next six months, following similar moves in the United States, the world's biggest coffee-shop chain said yesterday.

The target for Starbucks is to remove trans fats, which may cause heart diseases, down to zero in China within six months, Roger Sun, Starbucks China's spokesman said during a phone interview.

"Our coffee products don't contain the acids and we are talking with local suppliers to use substitute ingredients in some baked cakes," said Sun.

The Seattle-based company now operates 400 stores in China and 230 in the Chinese mainland, which is set to become its biggest market outside the United States.

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CARE gets new funding from Starbucks

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Starbucks Corp. has raised more than $500,000 for a CARE project in Ethiopia, a country with high-quality coffee growing and chronic food shortages.

Atlanta-based CARE, a nonprofit humanitarian group focused on poverty, will use the funding for a three-year program to improve economic and educational prospects for more than 6,000 people in rural Ethiopia's coffee growing regions. More than 45 percent of the country's population lives below the poverty line.

The development project between CARE and Starbucks will support 1,500 households through programs to improve agricultural practices and adult literacy. CARE's projects will train women and men in agricultural techniques that reduce crop losses, establish community-based saving and self-help groups that provide sustainable financial and social services, and fund adult functional literacy programs.

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Letter to the Editor re: Kona Coffee Council

Dear Editor

I read your story that the Kona Coffee Council does not support the Bills asking that any coffee labeled Kona blend in Hawaii must have a minimum of 75% Kona.

What a pity that an organization that purports to represent half the Kona coffee farmers wants to maintain 10% as the amount required to call coffee Kona. No Bill is passed as written, and if the KCC had any interest in protecting their farmer members they would engage in the discussion, there is plenty of room for compromise.

As to their comments about destabilizing the market - they contend that 50% of the crop goes into blends in Hawaii. Had they done the smallest piece of investigation they would know this cannot be so. Half the Kona crop, according to NASS figures, is about 1.5 million pounds. If you blended that 9:1 with foreign coffee then you would have to import 13.5 million pounds of foreign coffee into Hawaii. Yet the figures from the Department of Agriculture show imports of about 5 million pounds of foreign coffee. So even if ALL the imported coffee was dumped into Kona blend you would only need 16.7% of the Kona crop to mix with it. Just about the tip on a restaurant check, hardly likely to destabilize the market!


Sincerely
Christine Sheppard


****************************************
Christine Sheppard
www.kona-coffee-country.com/coffee
christinesheppard@hawaii.rr.com
808-329-7239

Coffee can work wonders

Daily Times (Pakistan)

ISLAMABAD: Recent research has found that two to four cups of coffee a day can contribute to a reduced risk of inflammation and cardiovascular disease, due to its high antioxidant content, BBC Television reported.

Antioxidants scavenge unstable molecules (free radicals) in the body. Free radicals contribute to oxidative stress, which, over time, can cause inflammation and other unhealthy changes in cells.

A study of more than 27,000 post-menopausal women concluded that coffee’s antioxidant properties might well inhibit inflammation and, consequently, development of cardiovascular disease.

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Genes involved in coffee quality have been identified

To maintain their incomes, growers are increasingly banking on producing quality coffee. However, improving coffee beverage quality means knowing more about the biological processes - flowering, fruit ripening, etc - that determine end product characteristics.

Since 2001, CIRAD and the Agricultural Institute of Paraná in Brazil (IAPAR) have been working on joint research into how coffee beans ripen. They have characterized the key enzymes in the sucrose metabolism during coffee bean development. The researchers involved used molecular biology and biochemistry techniques in their work, supported by the University of Campinas in Brazil (Unicamp).

Their work showed that an enzyme, sucrose synthetase, is responsible for sucrose accumulation in coffee (Coffea arabica) beans. Unlike in other plants, invertases play only a minor role in this metabolism. Sucrose synthetase exists in the form of at least two similar proteins with the same biological function - isoforms -, but which are coded by two different genes: SUS1 and SUS2.

Expression of those genes was analysed within the various tissues of developing coffee beans (pulp, perisperm and endosperm). The results showed that sucrose accumulation in coffee beans, towards the end of ripening and just before picking, is controlled by isoform SUS2. Isoform SUS1, for its part, seems to be involved in sucrose breakdown and thus in energy production. In effect, its expression is systematically detected during the early stages of cell division and expansion in young tissues.

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Kona Coffee Council opposes labeling bills

Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - February 4, 2007

The Kona Coffee Council says it does not support two Kona coffee labeling bills in the Hawaii Legislature, though it does support the general concept of bolstering the brand through more specific labeling of content.

Senate Bill 661, sponsored by Sen. Russell Kokubun, D-Waiakea Uka-Kalapana-Volcano-Kahuku, and House Bill 72, sponsored by Rep. Bob Herkes, D-Puna-Kau-Kona, would require that coffee be at least 75 percent Kona before it bears the name Kona. Kona blends are now allowed to have as little as 10 percent Kona coffee.

"We are anxious to support good legislation to increase the minimum percentage of Kona coffee in each package to be labeled Kona," the council said. "We agree that the Kona name must be protected, and that permitting coffee containing only 10 percent Kona to be labeled as Kona (blend) does not fully enhance our prestigious brand." But the council said the proposed 75 percent rule is arbitrary and could have unintended consequences. And it said an abrupt change of that magnitude could destabilize the market.

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The Tricks To A Perfect Cup Of Coffee

Angela Davis
Reporting
CBS Broadcasting Inc.

(WCCO) February is specialty coffee month so we went in search of answers to this question: how can we make our coffee at home taste as good as the coffee in shops?

We talked with a woman, Bethany Kurbis, who has been working in coffee shops for nearly 10 years and is the manager of Bordertown Coffee in Dinkytown. Kurbis let us in on some coffee making tricks of the trade.

For the best possible results, Kurbis said we have to do two things at home: use filtered water instead of tap water in our coffee makers, and use freshly ground beans instead of coffee that has been ground and packaged for us. Yes, those two simple things will dramatically improve the taste.

"You get a better cup of coffee with freshly ground coffee. If you have the beans and have a grinder, then you can grind it up and put it in your basic coffee pot and that will do the trick. And like I said, if you have good water, that makes a big difference," Kurbis said.

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McDonald's coffee beats 3 big rivals in magazine's test

Consumer Reports compares taste, cost

Bloomberg News
Published February 3, 2007

McDonald's Corp.'s coffee tastes better and costs less than brew from Starbucks Corp., Burger King Holdings Inc. and Dunkin' Donuts, Consumer Reports magazine said.

"We compared the rivals with Starbucks, all in basic black--no flavors, milk, or sugar--and you know what? McDonald's beat the rest," Consumer Reports said in its March issue.

McDonald's Chief Executive Jim Skinner introduced coffee made from 100 percent Arabica beans, the kind used at Starbucks, a year ago. The move helped drive 2006 sales up 9 percent, the Oak Brook-based company said last month. The company said it sells 500 million cups of coffee a year.

Consumer Reports' "trained tasters" visited two stores of each company, the magazine said. McDonald's coffee was "decent and moderately strong," while Starbucks was "strong, but burnt and bitter," the magazine said.

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New drinks review: coffee manufacturers have bean busy

2 February 2007

By DBR Staff Writer

This month's roundup of new products from the Productscan database includes a range of novel coffee products, such as instant coffee in a cube format, and a coffee jar with an easy-to-open lid. However, more eagerly awaited is the news that Starbucks has entered the hot vending market, showing that the company is determined to increase exposure for its brands, and become available in more places.

'Content Starbucks' new hot vending coffee, manufactured by PepsiCo, is contained within aluminum steel cans and comes in various flavors, including cafe latte. The launch highlights an emerging trend in the US for vending dispensed coffee and other hot drinks. Hot vending is already well established in Japan, and if it takes off in the US, with Starbucks leading the charge, the brand could become that much more ubiquitous.

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