Q&A
What’s in a Nespresso capsule?
Our Original, Vertuo and Out-of-Home capsules contain only 100% roast and ground coffee. There are no additives in our permanent range nor in our Limited Editions.
The exceptions are flavoured variations that we have in our Original (Ciocattino, Vanilio, Caramelito), Vertuo (Hazelino, Vanizio, Caramelizio) and Out-of-Home (Espresso Vanilla and Espresso Caramel) which contain natural flavouring.
Does coffee cause cancer?
No. In June 2016 The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found no persuasive evidence connecting coffee to any increased risk of cancer. See press release
Is there furan in my coffee?
All types of coffee, including roast and ground coffee, contain small amounts of furan in levels that are not a concern. Furan is an organic compound that is formed naturally in foods during heating or cooking. It’s naturally present in a wide variety of foods and beverages such as grilled vegetables, baked bread, grilled chicken, canned and jarred foods, and all types of coffee.
Furan is generated in coffee during the roasting process, which is a key step in coffee manufacturing, as roasting develops the typical taste and aroma of coffee.
The consumption of coffee, regardless of how it is prepared, is considered safe by all food safety authorities. Regulatory bodies, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA 4104, 2015), have made no recommendations about the maximum levels of furan in dietary intake.
Is there acrylamide in my coffee?
Acrylamide is a common component that naturally forms in cooked products, such as bread, chips and cookies. Acrylamide levels in coffee are below references values set by the European Commission and are therefore not a concern. In fact, Nespresso coffee is always below those levels.
Does Nespresso practice "flash roasting"?
No, Nespresso practices traditional coffee roasting methods.
The roasting of coffee is a crucial and delicate step, because it is during this stage
that the green coffee reveals its unique personality, its taste and its aromas.
Nespresso roaster experts do not practice "flash roasting" and adapt the roasting of
coffee beans according to their own characteristics and the recipe to produce to
create exceptional quality Grands Crus. At Nespresso roasting can vary from 6 to 16
minutes and from 200 ° C to 240 ° C.
¿Does crema come from additives?
No, it is 100% coffee. The crema is a naturally-formed foam of coffee and air, produced during the extraction process and is the sign of high quality coffee as defined by the Specialty Coffee Association.
Our unique technology delivers the right balance of water temperature, quantity and speed, along with 19-bar pressure for our Original machines and Centrifusion for our Vertuo machines, creating a crema that is the marker of a traditional espresso.
Where does your aluminum come from?
Nespresso recently announced that it will be the first company to use responsibly- sourced aluminium, supplied by Rio Tinto, to produce its coffee capsules. We are working with Rio Tinto to fulfill our commitment of sourcing 100 percent sustainable aluminum by 2020.
Nespresso helped form the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) in 2009 with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), WWF, Rio Tinto Alcan and others, to develop an international standard for responsible aluminium. This standard was released in 2017.
The ASI sets out standards to promote the protection of biodiversity, respect for indigenous people’s rights, water management and low-carbon emissions during the production of aluminium.
Is the aluminum in your capsules really recycled?
All of the capsules that our customers return to us are recycled. Aluminum is 100% recyclable.
Since 2009, Nespresso has had its own capsule collection and recycling system in Spain. Customers can recycle their used capsules through the approximately 1,900 points throughout Spain, located in Nespresso Boutiques, department stores that sell Nespresso machines, and collaborating municipal waste collection points, such as those in Barcelona, Biscay, Seville and Valencia.
Why shouldn’t you pick biodegradable or compostable capsules?
Aluminium is the only material that can protect coffee from the air, humidity and light and, in parallel, is 100% recyclable. Aluminium represents a commitment to sustainability due to its infinite recyclability: 75% of all aluminium ever produced in history continues to be used today.
Biodegradable or compostable capsules are, nowadays, only slightly biodegradable. This means that they do not necessarily benefit the environment. At present, we believe there are still questions surrounding their environmental impact (from the time they are produced and until the end of their life cycle), the infrastructure in place to collect them, as well as their potential to be recovered after use.
Why? These coffee capsules can only be deposited into organic waste containers at very few points in Spain. In general, there is no separate collection for biowaste. Therefore, compostable products cannot be managed and end up in landfills, where they are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Thus, to make this option truly sustainable, it must be possible to collect and separate them properly to direct them towards suitable sectors, which is still not done today in Spain.
These are the reasons we decided on aluminium. A 100% recyclable material, which can technically be recycled, as there are specific recycling processes for this material.
