Worried About Plastic in Your Pod Brewer? Experts Point to the Brew Path

Martha Stewart has a new explainer on plastic and aluminum in coffee makers, and the experts it talked to are calmer than the headline might suggest. According to the article, the research so far doesn’t show that using a coffee machine the normal way is harmful, though cutting down how much plastic touches hot water is an easy way to limit your exposure.

The useful idea in the piece is the brew path. Dean Rotchin, CEO of SimplyGoodCoffee, suggests asking a manufacturer which parts the water actually touches on its way from the reservoir to your mug. The outer housing matters much less than the tank, tubing, valves, seals and filter basket, the article says. Ildi Revi of Purity Coffee adds that a “BPA-free” label doesn’t mean a machine is plastic-free.

Pods do come up. Clemson food scientist Paul Dawson tells the magazine that brewing through plastic pods can shed tiny plastic particles into the drink, and he points to capsule-machine studies that found compounds with hormone-like activity. The article is careful to say the health significance isn’t established and that most of this work happened in labs. On aluminum, it cites a study of aluminum moka pots that found the added exposure from proper use was negligible.

Our take: nobody quoted here is telling you to throw out your Keurig, and two of the three experts run companies that sell low-plastic coffee gear, which is worth keeping in mind. Their stronger argument is about waste, and that one is hard to argue with. If plastic in the brew path bothers you, a stainless mesh filter takes the pod out of the equation, though the machine’s own tank and tubing stay the same. Our guide to the best reusable K-Cups covers the options.