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The European Union has declared coffee harmful to humans as it enforced a ban on the use of caffeine as a pesticide, sparking criticism that Brussels regulators could eventually target coffee itself.
The decision, outlined in a new EU regulation, cites scientific evidence suggesting that caffeine—central to coffee—can cause adverse effects on the heart, hydration, body temperature, and mental well-being. While the ruling is primarily aimed at preventing caffeine from being used to control snails and slugs in agriculture, it has ignited fears that wider restrictions on coffee could follow.
Danish MEP Anders Vistisen, chief whip of Patriots for Europe, lambasted the decision as “more unwelcome and needless interference from meddling bureaucrats in Brussels.” He warned that the EU’s regulatory overreach could eventually lead to forced consumption of decaffeinated coffee.
“What is this all leading to? Are they seriously going to eventually force us to drink decaffeinated coffee? It’s becoming ridiculous,” he said.
Vistisen likened the caffeine ban to past EU attempts to regulate traditional foods, including an effort to impose limits on coumarin, a compound in cinnamon, which nearly led to the restriction of the Danish cinnamon roll. The pastry was only saved by reclassification as a “traditional” food.
He added: “A few years ago, the EU wished to ban cinnamon on Danish pastries and the bakers union had to wrangle a get-out clause. It would suit everyone much better if many of these matters were left to national competence and personal choice.”
The caffeine ruling follows previous EU bans on food additives such as titanium dioxide, which forced bakers and food manufacturers to reformulate products or remove them from the market altogether. Critics argue that such measures undermine consumer freedom and national culinary traditions in favour of bureaucratic standardisation.
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