Are coffee whiteners really that bad?

[Valteron]

I was going to post this in general questions, but I get a feeling there will be a debate on this topic.

Have you ever noticed that the health-food, naturalist, organic, granola-crunching crowd seems to have a special horror of coffee whiteners?

Now, Mr. (or Ms.) Moderator, please edit this para if we are not allowed to mention brand names, but I am talking about non-dairy whiteners like Coffee-mate.

Personally, I work with my voice and milk or cream in my coffee can cause excess mucus on my vocal chords, which makes me sound like I am croaking. So I use powdered whiteners in my morning Java.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard people (especially women for some reason) recoil in horror at the sight of the whitener, and wrinkle their nose in digust at "all the chemicals" in the product.

I usually just laugh and say that my cup also contains a huge amount of the chemical hydrogen dioxide. And as everyone knows, we need eight glasses of H2O per day to stay alive.

Every substance is a chemical of one sort or another to my knowledge. But the critics of coffee whitener carry on as if it were toxic sludge. Does anoyone out there have an informed opinion on this?

[Jenaroph]

FYI, milk does not cause excess mucus. (http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/24/suppl_6/547S)

While I agree that "OMG CHEMICALS" is usually nonsense, artificial creamers generally contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which are virtually universally considered bad for you.

[An Arky]

I can't have calcium first thing in the morning (I take Levothyroxine), so I switched to International Delight, usually French Vanilla, but they have some specialty flavors that are good, too. It's not bad at all, and you don't have to add sugar. CoffeeMate has varieties of this sort of thing, too, which aren't too bad, either.

But I don't do the powder stuff...

[Valteron]

FYI, milk does not cause excess mucus. (http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/24/suppl_6/547S)

While I agree that "OMG CHEMICALS" is usually nonsense, artificial creamers generally contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which are virtually universally considered bad for you.

Just how bad are they? Relatively speaking. I mean, I eat ice cream and butter, which I shouldn't since I have high cholesterol, but nobody ever says anything about that.

Since I take whitener once or twice a week when I am working, would the risk be negligeable? Are the powders that much worse than cream in the coffee? A lot of the places I work in have only cream, which is why I bring my own whitener in sachets.

[Valteron]

FYI, milk does not cause excess mucus. (http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/24/suppl_6/547S)



The article you are quoting about excess mucus seems to be about asthma. I have definitely experienced a problem early in the morning. I speak into a microphone and I have to keep hitting the cough button on the mic and clearing my throat if I have milk in my coffee. The problem definitely does not appear if I take my coffee black (yech!) or with whitener.

[Marley23]

I was going to post this in general questions, but I get a feeling there will be a debate on this topic.
It's possible, but I think this is pretty much a factual question about the components of coffee whiteners. Moved to General Questions from Great Debates (with a stopover in Cafe Society because it's about food).

[cwthree]

I cringe at the sight coffee whitener because it tastes like crap, and makes any beverage to which it is added taste like crap. I am not allergic or otherwise sensitive to dairy products, so I see no reason to replace milk or cream (which tastes good and disperses well in coffee and tea) with a foul-tasting concoction that doesn't taste good and tends to form icky clumps in my beverage besides.

[Squink]

Partially hydrogenated coconut or palm kernel oils are probably not the best things in the world to be making a regular part of your diet.

[Exapno Mapcase]

There are many published medical journal studies on the issue. As far as I know, every single one comes downs flatly on one side: milk does not cause extra mucus. Here's one article (http://planetlactose.blogspot.com/2009/11/milk-doesnt-cause-mucus.html) that leads back to other links.

As for coffee whiteners, it's a matter of balance, as usual. Sure they are artificial, and sure they use potentially unhealthy substitutes to get the taste and feel of cow's milk.

But how much of them are you using? If you're talking about one cup of coffee per day, then the quantity of unhealthy anything is swamped by everything else in your diet. Maybe if you're a caffeine addict and drink 25 cups a day and use double whitener each time it would add up to a significant problem. Otherwise it's not a big deal in context.

[aceplace57]

Well, an entire generation of Americans has used artificial creamer for 60 plus years. It hasn't seemed to hurt anything. I can't recall seeing anyone use milk in their coffee for a long time. Every restaurant I've ever been in offers artificial creamer.

Is there some kind of fad to use real dairy in coffee? :confused:

If artificial creamer was dangerous we'd know it by now. It's been used since the 1930's or 40's.

[aceplace57]

Coffee mate powder is what coffee drinkers have traditionally used. No trans fat at all.

That liquid stuff is a recent fad.

COFFEE-MATE Powder contains 0 g trans fat per serving.. COFFEE-MATE Liquid flavors contain less than 0.5g of trans fat per serving. Although the ingredient statement lists partially hydrogenated oil, the amount is considered trivial. Therefore, it is listed as 0 g (per FDA guidelines) in Nutrition Facts. COFFEE-MATE Fat Free, Sugar Free and Original have a 0 trans fat content.

http://www.coffee-mate.com/Faqs.aspx


1961 I thought it had been around since the 30's. ;)
COFFEE-MATE® was the first to transform an ordinary cup of coffee into a creamy treat and remains the leading innovator in the non-dairy creamer category. In 1961, COFFEE-MATE was introduced as the world’s first non-dairy powdered creamer. COFFEE-MATE soon established its position as America's most popular non-dairy creamer. This favored status was strengthened with the introduction in 1989 of NESTLÉ COFFEE-MATE liquid, which quickly became the number one non-dairy liquid creamer on the market, a position it still holds today.

[Hello Again]

I cringe at the sight coffee whitener because it tastes like crap, and makes any beverage to which it is added taste like crap. I am not allergic or otherwise sensitive to dairy products, so I see no reason to replace milk or cream (which tastes good and disperses well in coffee and tea) with a foul-tasting concoction that doesn't taste good and tends to form icky clumps in my beverage besides.

^ This.

I don't think it is "unheathful" when consumed in normal doses, just disgusting.

[KneadToKnow]

Is there some kind of fad to use real dairy in coffee? :confused:

I use half and half. If it's a fad, I'm on board.

Since I only drink 3-4 cups of coffee a week any more, I'm not too worried.

[bordelond]

I can't recall seeing anyone use milk in their coffee for a long time. Every restaurant I've ever been in offers artificial creamer.

Is there some kind of fad to use real dairy in coffee? :confused:

This is an interesting post.

Around here (SE Louisiana, New Orleans suburbia), restaurants invariably give you half-&-half with your coffee by default. Even low-brow places. Truly sybaritic establishments will give you half-&-half in a small metal pitcher, while most other places will give you individually-packaged servings (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51y2e5MFuwL.jpg).

Aceplace, are you in the U.S. or elsewhere? If you are in the U.S., in what part of the country?

[purplehorseshoe]

Well, an entire generation of Americans has used artificial creamer for 60 plus years. It hasn't seemed to hurt anything. I can't recall seeing anyone use milk in their coffee for a long time. Every restaurant I've ever been in offers artificial creamer.

Is there some kind of fad to use real dairy in coffee? :confused:

If artificial creamer was dangerous we'd know it by now. It's been used since the 1930's or 40's.

It's been a fad ever since people drank coffee and had cows, y'know. Besides, an entire generation of American women were advised to smoke during pregnancy. Did that seem to hurt anything?

[bordelond]

Valteron, I also wanted to ask -- where are you from that they call this product "coffee whiteners" instead of "creamers"? I've heard "coffee whiteners" before, but I don't know from where that particular idiom originates.

[aceplace57]

I live in the American south. I've seen those little liquid containers of creamer in restaurants. But that's still artificial.
like this
http://www.minimus.biz/images/F07-0206001-0100bg.jpg

My mom hates to use milk because it can curdle in the coffee. Even milk that smells ok can curdle if it's close to expiring.

[Hello Again]

I live in the American south. I've seen those little liquid containers of creamer in restaurants. But that's still artificial.
like this
http://www.minimus.biz/images/F07-0206001-0100bg.jpg


Actually some brands are actual half & Half.

Land o' Lakes Mini-moo (http://www.amazon.com/Land-Lakes-Mini-Moos-quantity/dp/B0038YTLVE)

[brad_d]

Am I the only person here who has never heard this stuff referred to as "whitener" before? I've only ever heard it called creamer.

I use the Coffee Mate stuff, and I like it.

[bordelond]

I live in the American south. I've seen those little liquid containers of creamer in restaurants. But that's still artificial.
like this
http://www.minimus.biz/images/F07-0206001-0100bg.jpg

Actually some brands are actual half & Half.

New Orleans is serious about its food -- real half-&-half is de rigeur :D

[cjepson]

Am I the only person here who has never heard this stuff referred to as "whitener" before? I've only ever heard it called creamer.

I call it whitener but I thought I was the only one. (I use the term in a postmodern, ironically detached sense. I also use the whitener.)

[aceplace57]

I grew up seeing that bottle of carnation coffee mate on the kitchen counter. The break rooms at jobs I've worked always had it too.

Milk is such a hassle. It spoils so quick. I didn't realize some folks still use it in coffee.

I learn something new every day. ;)

I drink my coffee black. Saves me a lot of trouble.

[Peanuthead]

Try using coffee ice cream in your morning eye opener. Mmmmmm.

[bordelond]

I grew up seeing that bottle of carnation coffee mate on the kitchen counter. The break rooms at jobs I've worked always had it too.

Milk is such a hassle. It spoils so quick. I didn't realize some folks still use it in coffee.
Half-&-half is more substantial than milk (being a blend of half milk, half heavy cream). Half-&-half pretty much "creams" like artificial creamer does (given the right proportions).

Whole milk is good in coffee, but you need to up the milk-to-coffee ratio to get it nice and lightened up (i.e. cafe au lait (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_au_lait)). Cafe au lait is very popular around here, but customers don't mix in the milk themselves -- it's done by the barista/counterperson.

And of course, the ever-popular latte is espresso plus milk.

[Exapno Mapcase]

I grew up seeing that bottle of carnation coffee mate on the kitchen counter. The break rooms at jobs I've worked always had it too.

Milk is such a hassle. It spoils so quick. I didn't realize some folks still use it in coffee.

I learn something new every day. ;)

I drink my coffee black. Saves me a lot of trouble.

In my experience, creamers or whiteners are found at diners and chain restaurants.

Upscale restuarants use milk. And every single coffee place has several containers of half-and-half, whole milk, and reduced fat milks to choose from.

I'd imagine that most people brought up in the Starbucks Era think of milk as the default when it comes to coffee.

[SeaDragonTattoo]

Ya. I thought this thread was going to be about some kind of tooth enamel whitener marketed to coffee drinkers specifically or something.

Half&Half for me. And I've never been to a diner/restaurant/fast food place even, that didn't offer real Half&Half either in a teeny pitcher or in the plastic little single serve cups. Even 7eleven and the other convenience stores have both Coffee Mate and Half&Half.

I cut high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils out of my diet a few years ago. That caused elimination of the powder and liquid non-dairy creamers in one fell swoop.

As to the "serving" of powdered creamer - one "serving" is just a single teaspoon. I don't know anybody who uses just one teaspoon of that stuff.

[Ionizer]

Ya. I thought this thread was going to be about some kind of tooth enamel whitener marketed to coffee drinkers specifically or something.

Me, too. Its 'creamer' around these parts for everyone I know (now and in past) and interact with, fwiw. Milk-based stuff is just called 'cream' (or milk).

Powdered creamer (yech!) makes great ~fire-starter helper, ime. Sprinkle a bit of the powder over a smallish open flame and watch it burn quickly (if you care to, that is). Lotta energy in that stuff!

[elfkin477]

Well, an entire generation of Americans has used artificial creamer for 60 plus years. It hasn't seemed to hurt anything. I can't recall seeing anyone use milk in their coffee for a long time. Every restaurant I've ever been in offers artificial creamer.

Is there some kind of fad to use real dairy in coffee? :confused:

If artificial creamer was dangerous we'd know it by now. It's been used since the 1930's or 40's. You mean like how people caught on right away that Tylenol causes three times as many cases of liver failure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylenol#Dangers) than every other drug combined, or that tobacco causes lung cancer? Even when we know that things cause problems, they don't immediately get banned. It took almost a hundred years after people recognized that asbestos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos#History_of_health_concerns_and_regulation) made people sick for the US to ban it; lead paint (http://www.scienceprogress.org/2008/10/a-brief-history-of-lead-regulation/) has a similar history.

[BorgHunter]

Hydrogen dioxide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroperoxyl)?

[Ruken]

It's not so much that they're bad, it's just that I'd rather eat food. Powdered margarine, a synthetic product that is manufactured to resemble cream, has gone a bit beyond that point for me.

[Mijin]

fyi
Here in merry old england coffee whitener is the only term used, never heard creamer.

[Ring]

I you drink a lot of milked / creamed coffee you're also consuming a lot of sodium. Not so if use Cremora ( 0 sodium).

http://www.annecollins.com/sodium_diet/sodium-milk.htm

[Peter Morris]

I usually just laugh and say that my cup also contains a huge amount of the chemical hydrogen dioxide.


I doubt it. (http://www.ehow.com/list_5953222_uses-hydrogen-dioxide.html)


Dihydrogen monoxide, possibly.

[Guinastasia]

Am I the only person here who has never heard this stuff referred to as "whitener" before? I've only ever heard it called creamer.

I use the Coffee Mate stuff, and I like it.


Nope -- I came in here to see what the OP meant by "whitener", in fact.

I like my International Delight creamer (French Vanilla or Irish Cream), and you'll pry out of my cold dead hands. (I also occassionally will use it in hot chocolate)

[cwthree]

I grew up seeing that bottle of carnation coffee mate on the kitchen counter. The break rooms at jobs I've worked always had it too.

Milk is such a hassle. It spoils so quick. I didn't realize some folks still use it in coffee.

I learn something new every day. ;)

I drink my coffee black. Saves me a lot of trouble.

Dry powdered milk makes a satisfactory, shelf-stable coffee additive in a pinch, and it still tastes better than any creamer/whitener that I've encountered.

[GHO57]

I usually just laugh and say that my cup also contains a huge amount of the chemical hydrogen dioxide.


I doubt it. (http://www.ehow.com/list_5953222_uses-hydrogen-dioxide.html)


Dihydrogen monoxide, possibly.

Call it DHMO or hydric acid, but remember, whatever the name, that stuff can kill you (http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html#DANGERS)!

[Guinastasia]

Whoa, check this out: according to wiki, the dry stuff is flammable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_creamer)! Cool!

[jasonh300]

Whole milk is good in coffee, but you need to up the milk-to-coffee ratio to get it nice and lightened up (i.e. cafe au lait (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_au_lait)). Cafe au lait is very popular around here, but customers don't mix in the milk themselves -- it's done by the barista/counterperson.

Cafe au Lait is made with very hot milk. That's why they fix it for you...to eliminate the need to bring near boiling milk to the table.

I've lived in New Orleans all my life, but I've always taken my coffee black with sugar. Rarely with milk or cream...it just tastes weak. NEVER with the powdered stuff.

I went into Morning Call one day a few months back and ordered a coffee...forgot to specify "black" and they brought me a cafe au lait. I went ahead and drank it and was surprised at how different it tasted than coffee with cold milk. I've actually gone out of my way to Cafe du Monde a couple of times since then to get cafe au lait.

Note that it's made with VERY strong coffee & chicory. I tried to duplicate it at home with Maxwell House and it just isn't the same.

[Gus_Handsome]

When I was working as a supervisor in a prison, we banned Coffee-Mate powder because if you threw a handful of powder in the air (dust cloud) & lit it with a lighter, it would ignite and cause a flash.

I don't know if it still does, this was in 1991.

Personally, I know it's unhealthy & disgusting, but I prefer the taste of it to cold milk or cream, plus it keeps your coffee hotter.

Good thing for me I don't drink much coffee anyway.

It's like eating hotdogs, you know it's bad for you, but man they taste so frikkin good.

[SeaDragonTattoo]

Cafe au Lait is made with very hot milk. That's why they fix it for you...to eliminate the need to bring near boiling milk to the table.

I've lived in New Orleans all my life, but I've always taken my coffee black with sugar. Rarely with milk or cream...it just tastes weak. NEVER with the powdered stuff.

I went into Morning Call one day a few months back and ordered a coffee...forgot to specify "black" and they brought me a cafe au lait. I went ahead and drank it and was surprised at how different it tasted than coffee with cold milk. I've actually gone out of my way to Cafe du Monde a couple of times since then to get cafe au lait.

Note that it's made with VERY strong coffee & chicory. I tried to duplicate it at home with Maxwell House and it just isn't the same.

So true. The N'awlins version with chicory makes all the difference. I'm surprised how regional the chicory is, it's hard to find up here.

A properly made latte is heaven. That's with the proper espresso/milk ratio - not the diluted crap Starbucks slings. There's a local roaster here - Intelligentsia - that is the place to go for a proper latte. So good.

[aruvqan]

[QUOTE=bordelond;12798981]
I've actually gone out of my way to Cafe du Monde a couple of times since then to get cafe au lait.

Note that it's made with VERY strong coffee & chicory. I tried to duplicate it at home with Maxwell House and it just isn't the same.

CdM has a coffee brand that is available in the Navy Commissary that we buy so I can get my cajun coffee fix. Unfortunately I can no longer handle caffeine so I need to find out if they make a <blech> decaf that tastes reasonably decent.

[digs]

Well, an entire generation of Americans has used artificial creamer for 60 plus years... It's been used since the 1930's or 40's.

Well, this might be a clue as to people's negative reaction. Some of us grew up watching our parents (ok, grandparents for you non-fogies) dump CoffeeMate® into their coffee.

Their attitude was "Look at what the Brave New World of chemicals and plastics is giving us!"

When we grew up (or perhaps woke up) and learned about nutrition, and took responsibility for what was going in our bodies, we were horrified. And partly by Whitener.

Add to that emotion the realization that our parents had been lying to us, and that "partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil" becomes a symbol of That Which We Have Risen Above. So don't be surprised that co-workers, or even total strangers, have a reaction.

Same reaction I get at the gym with a Twizzler hanging out of my mouth, or the defense man on my soccer team who plays with a cigarette in his.

[digs]

I've actually gone out of my way to Cafe du Monde a couple of times since then to get cafe au lait.


Don't tell us you got beignets, too, or I'll be apoplexedly jealous.

But, dear readers, keep in mind that Cafe du Monde is The. Best. Coffee. Ever. None of jasonh's comments apply to anywhere else on the world.

[Colophon]

When we grew up (or perhaps woke up) and learned about nutrition, and took responsibility for what was going in our bodies, we were horrified. And partly by Whitener.

Add to that emotion the realization that our parents had been lying to us, and that "partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil" becomes a symbol of That Which We Have Risen Above. So don't be surprised that co-workers, or even total strangers, have a reaction.

Fair point, but it seems a funny thing to get worked up about - I mean, how much whitener do people actually consume? A spoonful or so, maybe three or four times a day if they always use it. That's nothing compared to chomping through a packet of cookies full of hydrogenated oil.

Coffee Mate ingredients: corn syrup solids, vegetable oil, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, sodium aluminosilicate, artificial flavor, annatto color.

So, it's mostly sugar and vegetable oil, with a bit of milk protein (despite the "non-dairy" description, that's what sodium caseinate is) and small amounts of non-toxic additives (emulsifier, anticaking agent). Quite what is so bad about adding a spoonful of that to your coffee (apart from the taste), I fail to comprehend.

(As a kid, I used to eat spoonfuls of Coffee Mate out of the jar, for the creaminess. But nowadays I don't even like it in coffee...)

[jasonh300]

CdM has a coffee brand that is available in the Navy Commissary that we buy so I can get my cajun coffee fix. Unfortunately I can no longer handle caffeine so I need to find out if they make a <blech> decaf that tastes reasonably decent.

They used to make a CDM decaf - I haven't seen it in years though. It came in a green can. I know there are other color cans besides the traditional yellow one, but I've never paid much attention to them.

BTW, chicory was originally added as a coffee substitute and has no caffeine. But since the coffee is brewed very strong, a cup probably has as much or more caffeine as a regular cup of Folgers.

[QUOTE=jasonh300;12799912]I've actually gone out of my way to Cafe du Monde a couple of times since then to get cafe au lait.


Don't tell us you got beignets, too, or I'll be apoplexedly jealous.

But, dear readers, keep in mind that Cafe du Monde is The. Best. Coffee. Ever. None of jasonh's comments apply to anywhere else on the world.

Beignets are hit and miss. The last couple of times I got beignets from Cafe du Monde, they were overcooked and therefore really crunchy, which is totally wrong. I've never had a bad beignet from Morning Call.

[Patty O'Furniture]

I've never heard of "whitener" either. Calling it that makes it sound like a noxious chemical, like a thinner or cleaner.

I suppose if you put enough in your coffee to actually make it white, that much is bad for you.

No self-respecting restaurant should be serving anything lighter-weight than half and half. I went to a place that actually tried to give me 2% milk to put in my coffee. I poured in the entire mini-pitcher and had to ask for another. The coffee was cold after adding so much low fat milk and it still wasn't as light as I wanted it.

[BigT]

I've only heard it called whitener at the hospital. They have a pay coffee machine that gives out free coffee in the emergency room, and if you want it, you click the whiten button.

[Floater]

You can use them as a detergent, which was demonstrated on Swedish television by an environmentalist some forty years ago.

[Annie-Xmas]

I remember a column by "On Language" wordsmith William Safire about the meaning of "regular coffee." He called several restaurants in different parts of the country and one made reference to a "creaming agent."

Safire remarked that in New York a "creaming agent" would refer to a hitman.