According to the World Health Organization (WHO), caffeine enthusiasts don't need to fear that their morning coffee may cause cancer, according to a new report. Previously, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), who WHO's cancer research branch, had stated that coffee could potentially be carcinogenic, but this advisement has been revised as of Wednesday.
According to a press statement released by the IARC Wednesday, a working group of 23 scientists who collaborated in Lyon, France did not find any "conclusive evidence for a carcinogenic effect of drinking coffee. However, the experts did find that drinking very hot beverages probably causes cancer of the esophagus in humans." The statement specified that "very hot" meant 70 degrees Celsius (or 158 degrees Farenheit).
The new conclusions about coffee are an update to a classification in 1991 from the WHO, which stated that coffee was "possibly carcinogenic to humans." The working group who met in France reviewed over 1000 studies in humans and other animals, determining there wasn't enough evidence to claim that coffee was possibly cancer-causing.
The results of the review found that it was not coffee itself that had been the real link to the possibility of cancer, but rather the temperature of the coffee. Director of the IARC, Dr. Christopher Wild stated,
The working group also found that there was not significant evidence to suggest that yerba mate, a tea that is popular throughout South America.
The IARC did not immediately reply to Complex's request for comment.
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