Take it from someone who can only tolerate a tiny amount of caffeine: I don’t want any in my decaf! So, when I found out Consumer Reports tested caffeine levels in decaf from popular chains, I just had to know the results.
Consumer Reports (CR) had secret shoppers buy a total of 36 cups of decaf (10 to 12 ounces each) from six different locations of Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, Seattle’s Best Coffee, 7-Eleven, and Starbucks in Yonkers, New York.
When CR’s lab analyzed the caffeine content, here’s what researchers found: More than half of the decafs had less than 5 milligrams of caffeine, but some had much more. One cup from Dunkin’ Donuts had 32 mg; one from Seattle’s Best had 29 mg; and one from Starbucks had 21 mg. The levels of caffeine varied within the chains, but McDonald’s decaf consistently had less than 5 mg in this sample.
There is no law about how much caffeine can be in a cup of decaf, but to keep things in perspective - a cup of regular coffee is usually considered to have about 100 milligrams.
Interestingly, when Consumer Reports also had their secret shoppers buy caffeinated coffee at the same chains, the caffeine levels ranged there, as well - from 58 mg to 281 mg!
For all of us decaf-ers, here’s some advice from Consumer Reports: “If you love coffee but not caffeine, limit yourself to one cup of decaf, especially before bedtime.”
I’ll drink to that.
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