Coffee is a product which has achieved an extraordinary and world-wide success. The reason for its success is a multiple one and can be summarised according to the following properties:

• quality of flavour and aroma;
• invigorating effect of the drink.

The flavour and aroma of coffee are derived from the roasting process; within this operation, profound transformations occur in the composition of the product: the level of humidity is considerably reduced and hundreds of different types of soluble and volatile substances are formed. These substances being strongly aromatic, confer to this drink that characteristic flavour and aroma.

The drink's invigorating effect depends both on its pleasurable taste and temperature at which it is consumed, and on the presence of caffeine. The effects of this element on the organism are various and they include the improvement of reaction time to stimuli (improvement of reflexes), improvement of attention, and considerably, the influence of the quality of sleep.

While in most of the cases the request for "a coffee" corresponds to the desire to enjoy a good hot drink, energetic and flavourful, the physiological stimuli associated with the assumption of caffeine are not always desired or requested by the consumer.

These are the reasons for which, already at the beginning of the XX century, the industry of decaffeinated coffee was created. It is a product that meets the consumers' needs, without having to consider the undesired physiological effects.

Throughout the years, the technology of decaffeinization has become more and more refined to the extent of making a product which, according to the organoleptic characteristics, excellently bears comparison with the non-decaffeinated coffee.

The techniques employed to decaffeinate coffee vary; however, all of them include the following processing phases: treatment of raw coffee (not roasted yet) with a solvent suitable for the extraction of caffeine; a treatment of the decaffeinated coffee by steam, in order to completely eliminate the solvent; a final drying of the coffee to bring it to its original level of humidity.

Verwerkaf S.p.A. has been operating for many years in the market as decaffeinated coffee makers, selling products such as raw coffees or roasted coffees in vacuumed packs or in tablets. Verwerkaf is a leading decaffeinization company for its volume of treated coffee, in Italy. The technology applied for the decaffeinization of coffee includes the use of "ethyl acetate", a solvent, whose characteristics assure a very selective extraction of caffeine; this means that the only element extracted from raw coffee treated with ethyl acetate is caffeine, leaving thus virtually unaltered all other substances present in the bean, that through roasting give way to that typical flavour and aroma characteristic of coffee. The result is a product of undoubtedly excellent quality, whose organoleptic characteristics can be considered the same as those contained in untreated products.

The technological process is such that the residues of solvent in the raw decaffeinated product are assured to an extremely low level, especially if we consider that the relevant Health Ministerial Decree has not deemed it necessary to fix any marginal limit values for solvent ethyl acetate, given its substantial harmlessness to health. However, Verwerkaf uses a solvent the quality of which, in terms of pureness, is established with the relevant specifications agreed upon by the supplier and it is certified by a complete analysis check of each lot of purchased product: this means an absolutely safe product. Furthermore, the solvent used is already present in nature itself in that very same green coffee bean.

The successive roasting, grinding and packing operations of the decaffeinated raw product occur in a production context maintained under strict control through the application of procedures, operational instructions and analytical methods. In particular, the hygienic characteristics are assured by the application of the rules indicated both by the law 30th April 1962 N°283, and by the regulation 93/43/EC (HACCP method), received in Italy with the Law Decree 26th May 1997 N°155.

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