Consumer products powerhouse Procter & Gamble is introducing a new coffee product that promises to be gentle on the stomach, but with the full taste and caffeine blast of regular brew. The goal of
the new product, called Folgers Simply Smooth, is to recapture some of estimated 35 million to 40 million U.S. coffee drinkers who have given up the beverage because of its side effects. Despite
recent reports touting the health benefits of coffee, including the protection it provides against diabetes, chronic liver disease and some cancers, coffee's roasting process produces phenols,
naturally occurring chemical compounds that can irritate the gastrointestinal system. P&G says Folgers Simply Smooth is gentler on stomachs because its proprietary roasting process limits the
formation of phenols. P&G also says it selects coffee beans less likely to produce phenols. Those claims notwithstanding, marketing the product successfully won't be easy because American adults
simply don't drink as much coffee as they used to. Ground coffee unit sales have fallen 6 percent in the past five years, according to Information Resources Inc., and the percentage of adults drinking
coffee daily has declined to 53 percent last year from 78 percent in 1954, according to the National Coffee Association of USA.
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