Pick what your decaf bag says — “Swiss Water”, “CO2”, “ethyl acetate”, “naturally decaffeinated” or nothing at all. You see how that coffee was decaffeinated in its maker’s or the regulator’s own words, the US rule and its limit, whether it can be organic, and the caffeine still in the cup.
On the bag: Swiss Water® or “Swiss Water Process”
A water process — Swiss Water® No solvent — water
What touches the beans
- Swiss Water: “The Swiss Water® Process is a 100% chemical-free, water-based method for removing caffeine.”
- Swiss Water: “It uses Green Coffee Extract (GCE), to achieve decaffeination via diffusion.”
- Swiss Water: “The entire process takes approximately 8 to 10 hours and results in a coffee that remains true to origin.”
A water process uses no solvent, so no US solvent rule applies to it.
Can be organic. Coffein Compagnie: “Water process decaffeination is certified organic (EU and USDA), kosher, and halal.” Swiss Water: “Our process ensures coffee certifications remain intact, including Organic*—a promise chemical solvent processes can’t make.” Its asterisk: “Organic certification is applicable only to non-roasted green coffee described on this site, unless otherwise specified.”
What the maker says — its claims, not ours
- Swiss Water: “The Swiss Water® Process removes 99.9% of the caffeine without stripping away the flavor or healthy coffee compounds.”
The petition before the FDA
The FDA: “Decaffeinated coffees and teas have less caffeine than their regular counterparts, but still contain some caffeine.” “For example, decaf coffee typically has 2 to 15 milligrams in an 8-fluid-ounce cup.” The 99.9% above is the maker’s claim for its own process. No source we read measured the caffeine left by each process.
Coffein Compagnie: “Because decaffeination is a physical process, the residual caffeine content can never be reduced to 0 %.” How much is in your own cups: the Decaf Caffeine Checker.
| Process | What touches the beans | US rule | Limit | USDA organic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (Swiss Water®, Mountain Water, others) | Water (Swiss Water: “Green Coffee Extract”; Coffein Compagnie: activated carbon takes the caffeine out) | none — no solvent | — | Yes |
| Carbon dioxide (CO2) | Water-moist carbon dioxide under pressure | 21 CFR 184.1240 (GRAS) | Good manufacturing practice | Yes — (10) Carbon dioxide is on 7 CFR 205.605(b) |
| Ethyl acetate (EA, “sugarcane”) | A water–ethyl acetate solution, then steam | 21 CFR 173.228 | Good manufacturing practice (no number) | Not on 7 CFR 205.605 |
| Methylene chloride (dichloromethane, DCM) | A water–methylene chloride solution, then steam | 21 CFR 173.255(c) | 10 ppm in decaf roasted and instant coffee; no tea use listed | No — not on 7 CFR 205.605 |
This is not medical advice. It says what the words on a bag mean, in the makers’ and the regulators’ words; it does not rank one process as healthier than another. If you have been told to limit caffeine, ask your doctor or pharmacist what that means for decaf.
Decaf coffee is made one of four ways: with water (Swiss Water®, Mountain Water), with carbon dioxide, or with a solvent — ethyl acetate or methylene chloride. In the US, methylene chloride may remain at no more than 10 parts per million in decaf roasted coffee (21 CFR 173.255). Every process leaves some caffeine: the FDA says decaf coffee “typically has 2 to 15 milligrams in an 8-fluid-ounce cup.”
How to use it
Pick the words on your bag — or “only decaf” if it names no process — and say whether it is coffee or tea. You see what touched the beans, in the words of the company that runs the process or the patent that describes it; the US rule that covers it, quoted with its section number; whether the process can carry the USDA organic seal; the makers’ own claims, marked as theirs; and the caffeine still in the cup. For methylene chloride, type the grams of coffee you use in a day to see the most the 10 parts per million limit allows in them. Nothing is ranked: the page says what the words mean, not which coffee to buy.
The four processes, in the makers’ words
Water. Swiss Water®: “The Swiss Water® Process is a 100% chemical-free, water-based method for removing caffeine.” “It uses Green Coffee Extract (GCE), to achieve decaffeination via diffusion.” “The entire process takes approximately 8 to 10 hours and results in a coffee that remains true to origin.” Coffein Compagnie, a decaffeination plant in Bremen, describes its own water process: “Water is then used to extract the water-soluble substances, including caffeine, from the green coffee beans. The caffeine is extracted from the resulting suspension with the aid of activated carbon. The decaffeinated suspension is then returned to the beans, which have undergone intermediate drying.” Descamex in Mexico, the Mountain Water Process, describes its water line in Spanish — “utilizando una solución saturada a base de agua de sólidos solubles obtenidos de los granos de café” (using a water-based solution saturated with soluble solids obtained from the coffee beans).
Carbon dioxide. The process was patented in 1981 (US 4,247,570, Studiengesellschaft Kohle): “In the decaffeination of coffee by contacting the coffee with water-moist carbon dioxide above its critical temperature and critical pressure, during the contacting, the coffee is maintained in admixture with an adsorbent for the caffeine for takeup of caffeine from the carbon dioxide by the adsorbent.”
Ethyl acetate. Coffein Compagnie: “Ethyl acetate is a natural component of sugar cane, coffee, and fruits such as musk, strawberries and bananas, but is also produced synthetically.” “Subsequently, steam is used to remove the remaining ethyl acetate from the beans, which are finally dried to their initial moisture content.” Descafecol in Colombia: “Our natural decaffeination process combines high mountain spring water and Ethyl Acetate (EA) of natural origin.” “The natural EA is obtained from a sugar cane-based process and is, together with spring water, the only other element coffee gets in contact with.”
Methylene chloride. Coffein Compagnie: “Decaffeination with dichloromethane, also known as methylene chloride, is a very common method for physically removing caffeine from green coffee beans.” “Subsequently, steam is used to remove the remaining DCM from the beans, which are finally dried to their initial moisture content.” Descamex runs a methylene chloride line too, beside its water one.
The US rules
| Process | US rule | Limit | USDA organic list (7 CFR 205.605) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | none — no solvent | — | Water and activated charcoal (as a filtering aid) — can be organic |
| Carbon dioxide | 21 CFR 184.1240 (GRAS) | Good manufacturing practice | Listed: “(10) Carbon dioxide.” |
| Ethyl acetate | 21 CFR 173.228 | Good manufacturing practice (no number) | Not listed |
| Methylene chloride | 21 CFR 173.255(c) | 10 ppm in decaf roasted and instant coffee; no tea use listed | Not listed |
Methylene chloride, 21 CFR 173.255(c): “In coffee as a residue from its use as a solvent in the extraction of caffeine from green coffee beans, at a level not to exceed 10 parts per million (0.001 percent) in decaffeinated roasted coffee and in decaffeinated soluble coffee extract (instant coffee).” Ten parts per million is 10 mg in a kilogram of coffee, so 20 g of decaf — about two cups’ worth — could hold at most 0.2 mg at the limit; that is a ceiling, not a measurement. Ethyl acetate, 21 CFR 173.228(b): “The additive is used in accordance with current good manufacturing practice as a solvent in the decaffeination of coffee and tea.” Carbon dioxide, 21 CFR 184.1240: “the ingredient is used in food with no limitations other than current good manufacturing practice.” For organic food, 7 CFR 205.270(c)(2) says handlers must not use “A volatile synthetic solvent or other synthetic processing aid not allowed under § 205.605”.
The petition to remove methylene chloride
On January 11, 2024 the FDA announced: “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is announcing that we have filed a food additive petition, submitted by Environmental Defense Fund, et al., proposing that the food additive regulations be amended to remove four specified solvents.” Methylene chloride is one of them. The petitioners’ argument, as the FDA summarises it: “Specifically, the petitioners state that these substances have been found to induce cancer in humans or animals and, therefore, are not safe pursuant to section 409(c)(3)(A) of the FD&C Act (also referred to as the “Delaney Clause”).” On May 28, 2026: “FDA is reopening the comment period to allow for the submission of any updated data and other information over the last two years.” “Either electronic or written comments must be submitted by June 29, 2026.” The FDA has not published a decision; until it does, the 10 parts per million rule stands. This page is re-checked every 90 days for that decision.
“Naturally decaffeinated” and “chemical-free”
Neither phrase is defined in a US rule. The FDA has a policy, not a definition, for “natural”: “The FDA has considered the term “natural” to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food.” It adds: “However, this policy was not intended to address food production methods, such as the use of pesticides, nor did it explicitly address food processing or manufacturing methods, such as thermal technologies, pasteurization, or irradiation.” Descafecol prints “Naturally decaffeinated coffee, processed in origin” for its ethyl acetate decaf, so the phrase alone can mean a solvent process. “Chemical-free” is Swiss Water’s description of its own process; no rule we read defines it.
Why many bags name no process
US ingredient labels exempt processing aids — 21 CFR 101.100(a)(3)(ii): “Substances that are added to a food during the processing of such food but are removed in some manner from the food before it is packaged in its finished form.” We found no rule that makes a decaf bag name its process. Two things on the bag do narrow it: a named process, and a USDA organic seal, which rules out methylene chloride. Otherwise, ask the roaster.
The caffeine that is left
The FDA: “Decaffeinated coffees and teas have less caffeine than their regular counterparts, but still contain some caffeine.” “For example, decaf coffee typically has 2 to 15 milligrams in an 8-fluid-ounce cup.” Coffein Compagnie: “The caffeine content of Arabica coffees range from 1 to 1.5 %; Robusta coffees range from 2 to 2.5 %.” “Because decaffeination is a physical process, the residual caffeine content can never be reduced to 0 %.” Swiss Water says its process “removes 99.9% of the caffeine”; Descafecol says its decaf is “99.9% caffeine-free” — both makers’ claims for their own process. No source we read measured the caffeine left by each process side by side. You will also read that US law requires 97% of the caffeine removed; a decaffeination plant’s page says so (“In the USA, 97 % of the coffee has to be decaffeinated.”), but we found no FDA rule or guidance that sets it, so this page does not use it. The Decaf Caffeine Checker counts your own cups against the figures that were measured.
Worked examples
- “Swiss Water Process” on a bag of decaf coffee (the page’s example): a water process — no solvent, so no US solvent rule; can be organic; Swiss Water’s 99.9% shown as its claim.
- “Decaffeinated with methylene chloride”, 20 g a day: a solvent process, at most 10 parts per million — at most 0.2 mg in those 20 g at the limit; not organic; the petition before the FDA shown.
- “Naturally decaffeinated” decaf tea: the phrase does not name the process; ethyl acetate is allowed for tea (21 CFR 173.228), methylene chloride is listed for coffee only.
- A bag that says only “decaf”: no process named — processing aids need not be on the label; an organic seal rules out methylene chloride.
Common mistakes
- Reading “naturally decaffeinated” as “water process”. Descafecol prints it on an ethyl acetate decaf.
- Reading “decaf” as caffeine-free. The FDA puts decaf coffee at 2 to 15 mg a cup.
- Taking a maker’s 99.9% as a rule. It is each maker’s claim for its own process.
- Repeating “the FDA requires 97%”. No FDA text we found sets that figure.
- Thinking methylene chloride is already banned in US coffee. A petition is open; the 10 parts per million rule still stands.
Frequently asked questions
How is decaf coffee made?
The caffeine is taken out of the green beans before roasting, with water (Swiss Water®, Mountain Water), carbon dioxide under pressure, or a solvent — ethyl acetate or methylene chloride — that is then steamed off. Coffein Compagnie: “the residual caffeine content can never be reduced to 0 %.”
What is Swiss Water decaf?
Coffee decaffeinated by the Swiss Water® Process, which its maker describes as “a 100% chemical-free, water-based method for removing caffeine” that “uses Green Coffee Extract (GCE), to achieve decaffeination via diffusion.”
Is Swiss Water decaf chemical free?
“Chemical-free” is Swiss Water’s own description of its process; no solvent is used. No US rule defines “chemical-free”, and the cup still holds some caffeine — the FDA’s 2 to 15 mg for a decaf cup.
What does “naturally decaffeinated” mean?
It is not defined in a US rule. The FDA has only a policy on “natural”, and it “was not intended to address food production methods”. Descafecol uses the phrase for an ethyl acetate decaf, so it does not tell you the process.
Is methylene chloride banned in decaf coffee?
Not in the US as of this page’s check. 21 CFR 173.255 allows a residue of at most 10 parts per million in decaf coffee. A petition to remove it was filed with the FDA in January 2024 and its comment period reopened in May 2026; the FDA has not published a decision.
Can decaf coffee be organic?
Yes, by water or carbon dioxide — carbon dioxide is on the USDA organic list, and organic handlers “must not use” a synthetic solvent that is not on it. Methylene chloride is not on the list.
Does decaf coffee have caffeine?
Yes. The FDA: “decaf coffee typically has 2 to 15 milligrams in an 8-fluid-ounce cup.”
More caffeine tools: the Decaf Caffeine Checker, the Caffeine Content Chart & Daily Limit, the Caffeine Half-Life & Sleep Cutoff Calculator and Tea Caffeine vs Coffee.
Read next
- Caffeine as a nootropic: benefits, dose and side effects
- Can you take Mind Lab Pro with coffee?
- Is there caffeine in nootropics?
This is not medical advice, and it does not rank one process as healthier than another: it says what the words on a bag mean, in the makers’ and the regulators’ words. If you have been told to limit caffeine — in pregnancy, or with a heart rhythm or a medicine — ask your doctor or pharmacist what that means for decaf. The makers’ figures are their own claims. Some links on this site are affiliate links: I buy what I review at full price, and a commission never changes a verdict.