Nicotine in Tim Hortons Coffee Hoax
Summary:Message claims that Canadian coffee and doughnut chain, Tim Hortons, adds nicotine to its coffee and that patrons have suffered serious health problems as a result (
Full commentary below.)
Status:False
Example:(Submitted May 2006)
Tim horton's THIS IS INTERESTING!!!!! Please Read
I'm not sure if this is true or not...but if it is, you'll certainly be seeing this in the news someday soon....I quess will just have to wait and see.
Are you a Non- Smoker or Against smoking all
together ? Do you ever wonder why you have to have your coffee every
morning?
** TIM HORTON'S SHOCKER **
A man from Arkansas came up to Canada for a visit only to find
himself in the hospital after a couple of days. Doctor's told him that he
had suffered of cardiac arrest. He was allergic to Nicotine. The man did not
understand why that would of happened as he does not smoke knowing full well
he was allergic to Nicotine. He told the doctor that he had not done
anything different while he was on vacation other than having Tim Horton's
coffee.
The man then went back to Tim Horton's and asked what was in their
coffee.
Tim Horton's refuses to divulge that information. After
threatening legalaction, Tim Horton's finally admitted.....
*** THERE IS NICOTINE IN TIM HORTON'S COFFEE
A girl I know was on the patch to quit smoking. After a couple of
days she was having chest pains & was rushed to the hospital. The doctor
told her that she was on a Nicotine overload. She swore up & down that she
had not been smoking. SHE WAS HAVING HER COFFEE EVERY MORNING.
Now imagine a women who quits smoking because she finds out that
she is pregnant, but still likes to have her Tim Horton's once in a
while.
THIS IS NOT A JOKE, PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG.... YOU MIGHT SEE
THIS ON THE NEWS SOON.
Commentary:
This foolish piece of scaremongering has now been circulating for several years. During 2006, a new version began hitting email in-boxes.
The message claims that Canadian coffee and doughnut chain,
Tim Hortons, adds nicotine to its coffee and that patrons have suffered serious health problems as a result. However, these claims are totally unfounded. Tim Hortons does not add nicotine to its coffee nor has it ever done so.
Tim Hortons denies the rumour in a
statement on its website:
Tim Hortons would like to clearly state that there is absolutely NO nicotine or MSG in our coffee. Tim Hortons coffee has NO ADDITIVES whatsoever. It is made only from a blend of the highest quality premium Arabica beans from several different coffee growing countries.
Furthermore, a 2004
investigation by CBC News confirmed the Tim Hortons statement. CBC had samples of Tim Hortons coffee independently tested. These tests revealed that Tim Hortons coffee had no measurable amount of
nicotine. They also revealed that Tim Hortons coffee generally has less
caffeine than that sold by Second Cup or Starbucks.
In any case, Canada's food products regulator, the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency, certainly does not allow nicotine to be added to foods. The agency has
defined a list of substances that are allowed to be added to food, and, not surprisingly, nicotine is not among them.
The message advises recipients that they might soon see this information on the news. However, there is no logic to this claim. If Tim Hortons was really adding a dangerous substance such as nicotine to its coffee, it would
already be a major news story. The mainstream media would certainly not sit back and let such a sensational story travel solely by way of a poorly written email forward.
Thus, this bogus warning has absolutely no basis in fact and it should not be forwarded.
Earlier Example:
A friend recently told me that a co-worker's boyfriend works for an independent research lab that randomly tests consumer products and they found nicotine has been added to the coffee sold at Tim Horton's (Canada's largest chain of coffee/donut shops).
Write-up by Brett M. Christensen
References:
Tim Hortons Website
Tim Hortons: Is there nicotine or MSG in Tim Hortons coffee?
CBC News: Disclosure - PROGRAM ARCHIVES - 2004
Nicotine Test Results (pdf)
Caffeine Test Results (pdf)
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
CFIA: List of Food Additives (Scroll down page)
