Coffee prevents bad breath: Study

Mel Rosenberg from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and an expert on odors, including bad breath, spent many years studying halitosis (bad breath). He has found out an odor killing property of coffee that prevents malodor bacteria making its presence felt altogether.

He stated: “Everybody thinks that coffee causes bad breath. And it's often true, because coffee, which has a dehydrating effect in the mouth, becomes potent when mixed with milk, and can ferment into smelly substances. But contrary to our expectations, we found some components in coffee that actually inhibit bad breath.”

Laboratory experiment
Prof. Rosenberg along with researcher and author Yael Gov examined the impact of coffee on bad breath in a vitro saliva test developed by Dr. Sarit Levitan in his laboratory.

In the study, saliva samples mixed with three different brands of coffee - Israel's Elite brand, Landwer Turkish coffee, and America's Taster's Choice were tested.

The team monitored the bacterial odor production of coffee in saliva. Using tools that measure the gas released by the bacteria, the researchers observed that all three types of coffee successfully inhibited the release of gases that caused bad breath, sometimes to the extent of even 90 percent.

“The lesson we learned here is one of humility. We expected coffee would cause bad breath, but there is something inside this magic brew that has the opposite effect,” said Rosenberg.

Ingredient for mouth hygiene products
Rosenberg and his team aim to isolate the ingredient in coffee that inhibits the release of gases so they could discover the antibacterial substance in coffee.

"It’s not the raw extract we will use but an active material within it," he added.

The discovery could lead to the development of new superior mouth hygiene products, as they would prevent bad breath forming at the source, instead of masking the smell with a mint flavor in mouth washes, breath mints or chewing gums.

The findings were presented last month at the International Society for Breath Odor Research in Germany.