Coffee and mortality

In this large prospective study, coffee consumption was inversely associated with total and cause-specific mortality. Whether this was a causal or associational finding cannot be determined from our data.

That is from a new study published in the NEJM by Freedman et al. 

Coffee paper of the day

This is the abstract of the paper "Consumer Willingness to Pay for Fair Trade Coffee: A Chinese Case Study" by Yang et al (February 2012):

Coffee consumption in China has seen a significant rise in recent years. This study seeks to explore the determinants of coffee consumption in China with a specific focus on fair trade coffee. In a survey of 564 respondents in Wuhan City, consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for fair trade labeled coffee was measured. This study uses an interval regression to in- vestigate individual demographic and consumption characteristic impacts on WTP. Results show that on average, consumers were willing to pay 22% more for a medium cup of fair trade coffee compared with traditional coffee. In addition, other variables that indicated a higher WTP included female consumers, consumers who made their own coffee, and consumers who planned to consume more coffee in the following year.

Coffee-paper of the day

We model coffee prices in Brazil, Guatemala and India allowing for the structural breaks and show that the liberalisation of coffee markets has benefited producers substantially both in terms of a higher share of the world price of coffee and higher real prices. This suggests that calls to re-regulate coffee markets may be misplaced.

That is from the new paper "Coffee Market Liberalization and the Implications for Producers in Brazil, Guatemala, and India," by Russell, Mohan and Banerjee. 

The good news about coffee

Coffee is [t]ied to lower prostate cancer risk. Here

Another study in Italy found no relationship between coffee and prostate cancer.