Are the Keurig K-Cups safe? [closed]

Question

I have a Keurig machine at my home and in my office at work. I use them roughly 1-2 times a day, but today I started to think about the Keurig and those K-cup packages they dispense water through. I have done some research about if it is safe to consume what comes out of their product and the only answer I seem to find is that some parts of the machine can contain BPA/has been in contact with BPA and other parts do not. (Hot, pressured water meeting the plastic k-cups)

Granted it has been approved by the FDA, I would assume it is safe to use it...

Seeing as the answers I have found are rather vague, can someone provide more insight on if the Keurig & K-cups are safe to use?

Answer 1

According to the Keurig website:

K-Cup® and Vue™ packs do not contain BPA and are constructed using FDA-approved food safe materials. We also use FDA-approved food safe materials in our K-Cup® and Vue™ brewing systems, and neither system contains BPA within its water paths (as of January 1, 2010 for our K-Cup® system).

I therefore would definitely say you need not be concerned, and if you are worried about BPA consumption, make sure you have a newer machine!

Answer 2

Even if they are BPA-free, that doesn't mean they're safe. Plastics still gets into the coffee Keurigs produce, as well as aluminum:

Health Effects of Aluminum Exposure

The lids of K-cups are usually made of aluminum which may have some health effects when exposed to acids and high heat like coffee. Prolonged exposure to aluminum may cause some problems in your brain. It has been linked to Alzheimers, anxiety, autoimmune diseases, and even depression.

While oral exposure is usually not a problem if ingested at high levels there may be a problem.

This is the same reason why you shouldn’t wrap your food in aluminum foil before cooking or baking. Some of the foil leeches into your food and can be problematic with spicy or acidic food at high temperatures.

Aluminum is significantly more likely to leech into foods at high temperatures, and in acidic and liquid foods like coffee.

Also, as the inventor of the K-Cup®, John Sylvan, said:

I feel bad sometimes that I ever invented the K-Cup… It’s like a cigarette for coffee, a single-serve delivery mechanism for an addictive substance… They’re kind of expensive to use; plus it’s not like drip coffee is tough to make.