The UN Cancer Agency has warned against drinking hot beverages as they might cause cancer.

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Speaking on Wednesday, the Director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Christopher Wild, said drinking very hot beverages might cause cancer of the oesophagus.

"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," said Wild.

According to AFP, the agency analysed over 1,000 studies that have been conducted since 1991, on the possibility of coffee being a carcinogen.

The agency's findings indicate that the beverage does not increase the risk of contracting the disease when served under normal temperatures.

Mr Wild however, warned against drinking coffee as well other beverages at high temperatures of above 65 degrees Celsius, noting that they might cause cancer of the gullet.

"Studies in places such as China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey and South America, where tea is traditionally drunk very hot (at about 70 C) found that the risk of oesophageal cancer increased with the temperature at which the beverage was drunk," said Wild.

He added, "Drinking very hot beverages at above 65 degrees Celsius was classified as 'probably' carcinogenic to humans."