Dangerous Espresso Machines...?

[andrewjackson]

Anyone see this article?

"Expensive coffee machines for top EU officials in Brussels have been withdrawn after tests showed unsafe levels of nickel and lead."

Check it out. A good thing to know...

 

[shadow745]

Oh no........ so you mean that using the average espresso machine is as harmful as most of the foods we eat, the air we breathe, etc....... We all die from something and ruling every single factor out just isn't possible. Later!

 

[CCafe]

Until further testing comes back you can't just blame it all on the machine. To me it sounds more like the water might be compromised somewhere else.

 

[Tomas]

I read further on this issue a while back and it isn't what it seems to be. There was a dust up over an amount of money "top officials" had spent for their own espresso bar so they wouldn't need to stand in line with the common people. It all got very political and charges were leveled that the machines were producing dangerous brew. I forget now who manufactured the equipment but it was a first line company...Italian I believe and they refuted the assertions and provided their own testing. I think that if you are really concerned and want to do the leg work you can assure yourself that this is NOT TRUE.

 

[CCafe]

It was La Cimbali. I've been trying to stay on top of this but I think the whole dangerous brew thing was simply to divert attention that these politicians were in the wrong.

There hasn't been much posted about this after the story broke.

 

[Alun_evans]

Indeed it was LaCimbali... however I think (but I am not certain)the problem was eventually traced to an issue that was not directly machine related. The company (LaCimbali) did a lot of damage control on this and rightfully so. If a report linked so closely to the European Union was so damning, then for sure the companies image would be torpedoed. Actually a lot of noise has not been made because if it turned out to have been true, then the chances are every Italian Machine maker would have been in the same boat. Most of the big manufacturers outsource the bulk of their core component work. This includes manufacture of boilers, piping, elements, groups, valves, solenoids...actually just about everything! Also there is very little use of weld or solder in the manufacture of one of these machines. All joints are generally locked together with brass nuts/bolts. It seem to me, and probably to someone like CCafe who also knows machines, unlikely lead would come from a normally assembled espresso machine.

So...if one manufacturer had high lead content then probably all were in the same risk position! I would think LaCimbali should be in the clear...most likely the piping in the EU could be where the lead source comes from. Ultimatley water heated to 120 degrees celcius will bring out taste faults that the same water at room temperature, or even normal boiling, would not exhibit

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461884,00.html

 

[akash]

Edited for content. Next time read the entire thread before you post your own reply!