§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research his Department has evaluated into possible links between the fatty material in coffee beans and the incidence of heart disease; and if he will make a statement. [1329]
§ Ms JowellIn 1994 the Department published the Report of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy on the nutritional aspects of cardiovascular disease, copies of which are available in the Library. The committee concluded that the evidence that caffeine or coffee consumption may contribute to the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) remains inconsistent and that coffee drinking as practised in the United Kingdom does not appear to affect CHD risk. The Department is aware of more recent Scandinavian research on the capacity of some components present in unfiltered, boiled coffee to raise blood cholesterol, and on the effect of method of preparation on its content of them. Given the different coffee drinking patterns in the UK, it is not clear whether this Scandinavian research is relevant to the incidence of heart disease in the UK.