John Myers
Would you leave moldy bread in your kitchen for weeks? Well, it often looks the same in coffee machines. Mold finds an ideal breeding ground in practical devices. But you can’t see the mold there. So it stays in the coffee machine and thus in the kitchen – for months, sometimes for years. However, mold and its spores are extremely harmful to health. And while the world may be constantly arguing about whether coffee is healthy or unhealthy, the coffee machine is undoubtedly not healthy.
Coffee from the coffee machine: questionable enjoyment
Coffee machines are extremely practical at a time when nobody has time anymore. They deliver the selected coffee drink quickly and in portions at the push of a button – from espresso to latte macchiato. The machine does everything: it grinds the coffee beans, brews the coffee, and spices it up with milk froth. Coffee machines are therefore now in the kitchens of many private households.
Of course, the cleaning of coffee machines is also almost fully automatic, so that the coffee lover doesn’t have to do anything else – except enjoy the coffee. But is the coffee actually a pleasure?
Leon Haro, a technician at Atlas Multimedia in Berlin, where they repair notebooks, washing machines, smartphones, and many other devices as well as coffee machines, sent us photos showing the inner workings of fully automatic coffee machines. These are often devices that have been well cared for and cleaned by their owners – unfortunately only on the outside. Because the sight of the inside is so shocking that you never want to drink coffee again, at least not from a coffee machine.
Coffee machines: The best environment for mold
The best environment for mold cultures prevails in the vending machines. When coffee is ground, the finest coffee dust is distributed throughout the machine. In addition, there are now warm temperatures and high humidity due to the water vapor that moves through the device. Ideal for mushrooms. And so the inner workings of the machines are not a pretty sight.
Marktcheck found something similar and reported on the completely dirty fully automatic coffee machines in a broadcast on April 21, 2015. It was teeming with mold and yeast, bacteria, and other germs so Marktcheck warned: If you don’t constantly clean the machine, you may drink mold with it!
But you clean the machine! At intervals of a few weeks, the display of many devices will show the message that you should now please insert a cleaning tab. Then you rinse with water and the device is sparkling clean and ready for the next brewing session – believes the owner. In reality, however, cleansing actions of this kind are nothing more than calming the conscience. Because it cleans almost nothing.
Mold in 9 out of 10 devices – All manufacturers are affected
The technician interviewed by Marktcheck says nine out of ten brewing groups are totally moldy, there is coffee residue in the housing and the hoses are dirty – regardless of the manufacturer. Increased numbers of germs and bacteria were also found in the coffee itself. And even mold easily survives the high but very short brewing temperatures.
However, mold is not only a problem if you accidentally eat or drink it, but especially if you inhale it. If there is a moldy fully automatic coffee machine in your kitchen, mold spores will constantly escape from it and you will in turn breathe them in.
Mold is extremely harmful to health
The health consequences of exposure to mold – even if it is only small amounts every day – can be numerous and often very subtle, so that when you have the corresponding symptoms you never think of mold and certainly not mold in the coffee machine.
Respiratory problems such as asthma and allergies are the most frequently mentioned consequences of mold exposure. But even those who suffer from chronic headaches, a constant runny nose, coughing, sleeping disorders, and burning eyes should check the apartment once to see whether there could be a source of mold somewhere, e.g. B. the coffee machine.
If you also constantly inhale mold spores and mold toxins, you have to reckon with gradual metabolic changes. These in turn can lead to the development of all metabolic diseases, but also to diseases of the immune system.
If you observe the symptoms mentioned in yourself or other family members, you can have a doctor carry out an examination for mold infestation. If this is positive, concrete measures against the fungus can be initiated. Of course, your coffee machine also needs general cleaning. Fully automatic cleaning is by no means sufficient.
Automatic cleaning is not enough!
If you take the trouble to study the operating instructions for your fully automatic coffee machine, you will find the information to clean the so-called brew group under clear water at regular intervals, e.g. B. once a month.
But hardly anyone reads the operating instructions and so hardly anyone knows what and where the brewing group is. And even if you know your brew group and have cleaned it once a month, that is still not enough to get rid of contamination in the device.
How do you clean the coffee machine?
If you want a really clean and mold-free coffee machine, then you would have to proceed as follows:
The cleaning programs should be used daily. The brewing group would also have to be removed and rinsed out every day. Then you would have to let them dry overnight and only put them back in the device the next day to interrupt the fungus-friendly moist environment. The water tank and the drip tray would also have to be cleaned every day and completely dried out, otherwise, germs would like to form there too.
Fully automatic coffee machines don’t work that quickly and easily after all. And if you don’t follow the hygiene instructions, the well-known health disadvantages of coffee are compounded by contamination and the risk of mold.
