Researchers at the University of Oxford reported Wednesday that adults who said they drank their tea and coffee "very hot" had roughly three times the risk of one type of esophageal cancer compared with adults who drank the same beverages warm. The analysis, published in the International Journal of Cancer, pooled 977,282 British adults from two large cohorts and is the largest look yet at drink temperature and cancer risk in a Western population.
The finding lands on an ordinary habit. Takeout cups are often served hotter than most people would voluntarily sip, and heat is the one part of the ritual a drinker can change. The study does not say coffee or tea causes cancer. It says temperature appears to matter.
