A 3-year national survey was made to determine the sanitary quality of green coffee beans offered for import into the United States. The methods of the Food and Drug Administration's Macroanalytical Procedures Manual were used to analyze samples for mammalian excreta, insect damage and mold. Insect damage was the most frequently encountered defect. The percent of samples containing insect damage was 70.6%, and the range of insect-damaged beans was 0 to 31.0% per sample. Mold was found in 23.5% of the samples, and percent of moldy beans ranged from 0 to 31.0% per sample. Mammalian excreta was found in 9.3% of the samples, and levels ranged from 0 to 50.63 mg/lb. African and Asian coffee beans generally had higher mean analyte levels than did beans from Central and South America.