A judge in California recently issued a ruling mandating that coffee come with cancer warning labels due to trace amounts of acrylamide produced during roasting, an established carcinogen created by Maillard reactions – food-prep reactions which also cause browning of French Fries, potato Chips Toast Roast Nuts and some types of bread – but for now small amounts do not pose immediate health risks.

As the coffee brewing process heats up and beans are roasted, their levels of acrylamide increase significantly – this is why dark roast coffees should be preferred over light or medium roasts to allow the chemical to dissipate from your system and reduce risk.

Coffee contains many antioxidants that may protect against chronic conditions and diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. These include caffeic acid, chlorogenic acids, eugenol, gamma-tocopherol isoeugenol scopoletin and tannic acid; all may help defend against chronic ailments and conditions in our bodies such as heart disease or cancer.

Though acrylamide in food cannot be avoided entirely, you can reduce your exposure by cutting back on starchy foods (such as potato chips and toast) that are prepared at high temperatures as well as drinking freshly-roasted coffee that has not been overheated or older organic varieties that have proven less susceptible to acrylamide formation.

Concerned that their coffee may contain undetectable levels of acrylamide? A group of scientists conducted research conducted by the Clean Label Project, a non-profit dedicated to health and transparency labeling practices. For this research project they purchased nine popular off-the-shelf retail coffee brands from retailers and tested them at Ellipse Analytics lab, who tested them for presence of acrylamide; results revealed all brands contained undetectable levels.

Research also indicates that home roasting of beans can significantly lower acrylamide consumption by selecting darker roasts or longer roasting times, as well as purchasing pre-roasted beans from specialty coffee shops in order to further limit exposure to this potential carcinogen.

Though acrylamide cannot be completely avoided, it’s important to be mindful of the amount you are consuming and ways in which you can limit your exposure. Still, the benefits of coffee far outweigh any risks; so grab yourself a cup and enjoy! Just don’t forget your water requirements (Image via Getty Images). (This article originally appeared on Sprudge and has since been updated.) (Image Credits: Getty Images). This post originally appeared on Sprudge but has since been modified accordingly.