An international Working Group of 23 scientists convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer agency o the World Health Organization (WHO), has evaluated the carcinogenicity of drinking coffee, maté,1 and very hot beverages.
A summary of the final evaluations is published today in The Lancet Oncology, and the detailed assessments will be published as Volume 116 of the IARC Monographs.
The Working Group found no conclusive evidence for a carcinogenic effect of drinking coffee. However, the experts did find that drinking very hot beverages probably causes cancer of the oesophagus in humans. No conclusive evidence was found for drinking maté at temperatures that are not very hot.