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The cancer risk of coffee has been downgraded, with experts concluding there is inadequate evidence to suggest it causes the disease.

咖啡致癌風險已經降級了，專家說沒有充分的證據認為咖啡會致病。

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, had classed coffee as "possibly" carcinogenic since 1991.

國際癌癥研究機構——世界健康組織的一部分——在1992年將咖啡歸類到“可能”致癌列。

This was because of a link to bladder cancer.

這是由于咖啡似乎跟膀胱癌有關聯。

But the expert group has now decided there is insufficient evidence to say whether it causes cancer or not.

但專家團隊現在認為沒有充分的證據表明咖啡能導致癌癥。

Drinking very hot drinks - above normal drinking temperature - probably does though, it has concluded.

已有結論表明，飲用很燙的飲料——高于正常飲用溫度——也可能致癌，

The IARC said this was because of the link to oesophageal cancer.

國際癌癥研究機構說飲用熱飲與食道癌之間有關聯。

But the risk was only there for drinks consumed above 65C.

但這種風險只在飲用高于65℃的飲料時才存在。

This was based on studies in places such as Iran, China and South America, where tea is often consumed at 70C.

這項研究基于伊朗、中國以及南美等會飲用70℃以上茶飲的地區。

The findings have been reached after 23 scientists reviewed hundreds of different studies.

由23位科學家回顧幾百項研究后得出結論。

What should we make of this?

我們應該做什么?

In a nutshell, experts are admitting they just don’t know whether coffee causes cancer. Previously, they had said it was possible it did.

一言以蔽之，專家承認他們現在并不清楚咖啡是否致癌。之前，他們說咖啡可能會。

But what is also important to note is that this cancer-classification process has nothing to do with the likelihood of someone getting cancer, just whether something can cause it.

但值得注意的是致癌等級分類過程與某人患癌的可能性無關，這只是說某樣東西是否會致癌。

For example, the category 1 carcinogens - where experts are convinced the agent causes the disease - include smoking tobacco and eating processed meat.

例如，1類——專家深信會致癌的——包括吸煙和吃加工肉類。

But smoking increases the risk of cancer twentyfold, whereas regularly eating processed meat doesn’t even double it.

但吸煙提高的致癌風險可達20倍，而平常我們使用加工肉類的風險甚至不到2倍。

Previously the IARC thought it was possible coffee caused cancer. That was not a judgment on the chances of getting it from drinking coffee, just that there was a link.

之前國際癌癥研究機構認為咖啡可能致癌。這項判斷并非基于飲用咖啡導致癌癥的概率，而只是說兩者似有一定關聯。

Now the evidence is judged to be insufficient to say either way.

現在認為得出致癌或者不致癌的證據都不充分。

But will this make a difference to coffee drinkers? It’s doubtful. Most probably never even considered cancer when sipping their morning cuppa even when it was classified as a risk.

這對咖啡飲用者有什么區別嗎?值得懷疑。大部分人在咖啡被列為有風險時，也不會在早晨喝咖啡時考慮癌癥的問題。

The IARC runs a register of environmental causes of cancer.

國際癌癥研究機構有一份環境致癌的列表。

There is a scale ranging from category 1 - including activities such as smoking - where the evidence is convincing, to category 4, where there appears to be no risk.

范圍從1，包括吸煙等致癌證據充分的，到4，似乎沒有風險的。

Since 1991, coffee has been in category 2B - reflecting what was then seen as a possible link to bladder cancer.

從1991年起，咖啡被列入2B——與膀胱癌似乎有關聯。

Now, it has been switched to category 3, which means it cannot be classified.

現在，被轉到3類，意味著咖啡無法被準確分類。

The IARC also noted a reduced risk for coffee drinkers of cancers of the liver and womb.

國際癌癥研究機構還指出咖啡飲用者中患有肝癌臟和子宮癌的概率更低。

Dr Rachel Thompson, of the World Cancer Research Fund, said the findings reflected the emerging research.

世界癌癥研究基金會的Rachel Thompson博士說，這些結果是新興研究的體現。

She said tea drinkers in the UK should not be alarmed though.

她說，英國的飲茶者不應該感到恐慌。

"These new findings don’t mean that you can no longer enjoy hot drinks," she said.

“這些新的發現并不意味著你不該享用熱飲，”她說。

"It is the very hot temperatures that have been identified as a cancer risk, and so, when drinking tea or other hot drinks, just let it cool down for a few minutes, especially if you’re not adding any milk."

“很高溫度才被認為會致癌，所以，在飲用茶或其他熱飲時，先放涼幾分鐘，尤其是你沒有加牛奶的話。”

National Coffee Association president Bill Murray said: "This finding is great news and highly significant for coffee drinkers and confirms evidence from an avalanche of studies by highly respected and independent scientists."

國家咖啡協會主席Bill Murray說：“這一發現是個好消息，對咖啡飲用者具有重要意義。這是由德高望重的獨立科學家們，經過先進的研究確認的。”