Attention coffee lovers – we’ve got some bad news for you.
New research has linked very hot drinks to cancer – so maybe it’s best to stick to the iced lattes from now on.
The UN’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that water heated above 65 degrees celcius induced tumours of the oesophageal nature in animals, which points to liquids above that temp is ‘probably’ carcinogenic to humans.
IARC director Christopher Wild said: “These results suggest that drinking very hot beverages is one probable cause of oesophageal cancer and that it is the temperature, rather than the drinks themselves, that appears to be responsible.”
The agency looked at 1000 scientific studies on the possible cancer-causing properties of coffee, plus yerba mate, the popular South American herbal infusion.
When the last evaluation was conducted in 1991, both of these elements were classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
With further evidence, the IARC determined this not to be true, but it is instead the particularly high temperature of the drink that may cause cancer of the gullet.
The IARC said: “Studies in places such as China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey and South America, where tea or mate is traditionally drunk very hot (at about 70C) found that the risk of oesophageal cancer increased with the temperature at which the beverage was drunk.”
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