What does the IAEA got to do with coffee?- Nuclear scientists trace coffee origins
January 4 - 2025
Coffee Geography Magazine
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 as an autonomous organization within the United Nations system; though governed by its own founding treaty, the organization reports to both the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations, and is headquartered at the UN Office at Vienna, Austria.
But now IAEA involves finding the fact about the origin of coffee helping the tracing of quality beans from the source. Using nuclear techniques, scientists can trace its journey — from the rain that nourished the plant to the soil that fed its roots. The IAEA, jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), supports countries to use these methods to ensure coffee quality and authenticity. The University of Costa Rica is building a geographic database for Tarrazú Coffee, helping laboratories worldwide verify its origins and protect its reputation.
The IAEA uses nuclear techniques to support coffee production and quality in several ways, including:
Developing disease-resistant coffee varieties- The IAEA works with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to train experts in plant breeding techniques to develop coffee varieties that are resistant to coffee leaf rust.
Nuclear techniques can be used to trace the journey of coffee beans, from the rain that nourished the plant to the soil that fed its roots.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a five-year research project with experts from 16 countries to refine methods to apply nuclear-derived techniques to test for accuracy in coffee labels.
The outcome of the project, carried out in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), will assist countries in combatting fraud in high-value food products, such as premium honey, coffee and speciality rice varieties.
“Numerous foods are sold at premium prices because of specific production methods, or geographical origins,” said project coordinator and IAEA food safety specialist Simon Kelly. “In order to protect consumers from fraud, and potential unintended food safety issues, we need standardized methods to confirm that the product has the characteristics that are claimed on the label.”
The project will help countries apply stable isotope techniques to protect and promote foods with added-value, such as organic food or products with specific geographical origins like Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The method works by looking at the ratio of stable isotopes in elements – such as hydrogen, oxygen and carbon – and the concentration of elements in a sample of the product. These can provide a unique fingerprint that links a crop to the place where it is cultivated.
“DNA will tell your parentage but not where you were brought up, whereas the isotopes the food product has absorbed from the environment reflect where they grow,” said Russell Frew, professor of chemistry at the University of Otago in New Zealand and one of the experts taking part in the project.
Fraud is a growing problem in the food industry, affecting countries globally and hurting exports. The research project will help developing countries increase compliance with regulatory requirements, thus facilitating trade.
Prized for its aroma and low-acidity, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is among the world’s most expensive, making it prone to counterfeiting. “It is really important for us to protect our coffee,” said Leslie Ann Hoo Fung, a researcher at the International Centre for Environment and Nuclear Sciences in Kingston, Jamaica. “We want to apply nuclear techniques to differentiate Blue Mountain from High Mountain coffee, for example, as they command different price points.”
The IAEA, jointly with the FAO, helps its Member States use nuclear and related techniques for science-based solutions to improve food safety and security and sustainable agricultural practices. The FAO, together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, published a report in 2018 highlighting the benefits of robust geographical indication systems for local food products to rural communities.