Drinking very hot tea may increase the throat cancer risk

According to population based case-control study, tea drinking habits and oesophageal cancer in a high risk area in Northern Iran:

People are advised to wait a few minutes before drinking a cup of freshly-boiled tea today as a new study, published on bmj.com, finds that drinking very hot tea (70?C or more) can increase the risk of cancer of the oesophagus, the muscular tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach.

The study was carried out in northern Iran, where large amounts of hot tea are drunk every day.

But an accompanying editorial says these findings are not cause for alarm and the general advice is to allow foods and beverages to cool a little before swallowing.