Why Isn’t Coffee Sold With Its Caffeine Content On The Packet?

4 April 2018, 15:03 | Updated: 4 April 2018, 19:20

Mystery Hour Question

Name: Oliver, West Ham.

Question: Why isn’t coffee sold with its caffeine content on the packet (like alcohol is)?

Answer: Professor Hal Sosabowski.

Qualification: Chair of Public Understanding of Science at the University of Brighton.

Alcoholic drinks above a strength of 10% need distilling to increase their alcohol content. That's because beyond that the yeast is killed by the alcohol in the fermentation process. Caffeine is naturally occurring, but you can’t distill coffee to increase its caffeine content. Therefore the amount of caffeine in each coffee bean is fairly constant.