Coffee Cherries

My eldest son's father is Guatemalan and my son has spent many vacations down in Guatemala with his grandmother who lives in a small village surrounded by coffee plantations. He says that the people who grow the coffee say that you can't eat the cherries because they will make you sick and you can die.

I was suspicious immediately because they said that eating the cherries would give you diptheria. Diptheria is spread by droplets from coughing or sneezing, not from coffee cherries, so that set me looking up the facts.

I did a little research and it turns out the the cherries are in fact edible. Depending on the variety, the pulp flavor ranges from bland to very sweet. There is a company that makes a blended juice with strawberry, acerola and coffee cherry.

Now I'm wondering why the people in Guatemala are so convinced that the berry is dangerous. I'm wondering if that false story was spread by wealthy plantation owners and/or traders in order to keep the people from eating down their profits. It also makes me wonder if people in Guatemala that could possibly use the extra calories and nutrition in the cherries are missing out on free food because they are throwing all that pulp away.