I hate clickbaits: “Decaf coffee is not safe for human consumption, health advocacy group warns”.[^1] Just to be clear, as worded in the title, it’s an utter nonsense.
If we wanted to word this is a non-clickbait way, the actual news should be “one component associated with the process of removing caffeine from decaf may be carcinogenic so a residue limit should be set”. Which puts it on the same list of common wisdoms such as “vegetables sold for salads should not have residue of horse shit on them” or “bread sold for human consumption should not have residue wood chips”. All true, but don’t make “BREAKING” news.
And, as a reminder, coffee itself had been on the IARC “possible carcinogens” list for a while, while “eating red meat” and “drinking hot drinks” still remain on it. There’s a number of IARC lists, and each one means something different.[^2]
[^2]: https://www.iarc.who.int/featured-news/media-centre-iarc-news-mono116/
