Does decaf coffee contain a harmful additive? Advocates want to ban a certain chemical in the brew

WASHINGTON — There’s a fight brewing over the future of decaf coffee.

Consumer health advocates are petitioning the Food and Drug Administration to ban a key chemical, methylene chloride, used to decaffeinate coffee beans. While the chemical is almost entirely removed during the decaffeination process, advocates say that a little-known nearly 66-year-old federal law mandates the agency ban the additive because it has been proven to cause cancer in rodents.

Methylene chloride, a since-banned consumer paint stripper, is used by nearly all of the major coffee companies in the U.S., including Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, according to data compiled by the advocacy group Clean Label Project. The ingredient acts as a solvent, binding to caffeine in coffee beans so it can then be discarded.

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