Is It Really Decaf?

Try not to lose sleep over this, but you're getting some caffeine when you order decaffeinated coffee. For a snapshot of what consumers might expect from the big chains regarding the amount of caffeine in decaffeinated coffee, we had secret shoppers buy a total of 36 cups of decaf from six locations of Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, Seattle's Best Coffee, 7-Eleven, and Starbucks near our headquarters in Yonkers, N.Y. All cups were the chains' small size, holding 10 or 12 ounces. Back in our labs, we analyzed the caffeine content.

There are no laws about the level of caffeine in brewed decaffeinated coffee in brewed. A cup of regular coffee is typically considered to have about 100 milligrams.

More than half of our decafs had less than 5 mg of caffeine, but some had quite a bit more. One of the six cups from Dunkin' Donuts had 32 mg; one from Seattle's Best had 29 mg; and one from Starbucks had 21 mg. Levels of caffeine in the decaffeinated coffees we tested varied within chains, but in our sample, McDonald's decaf consistently had less than 5 mg.

Our shoppers bought caffeinated coffee at the same chains, and we found a surprise there, too. Caffeine per cup ranged from 58 mg to 281 mg, providing less or more of a java jolt than you might expect.

CR's take. Given that many people sip more than one small cup a day, decaf drinkers might be getting far more caffeine than they bargained for. If you love coffee but not caffeine, limit yourself to one cup of decaf, especially before bedtime.

BACK TO: Consumer Reports: Smart Shopping