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

咖啡致癌风险已经降级了，专家说没有充分的证据认为咖啡会致病。

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

国际癌症研究机构——世界健康组织的一部分——在1992年将咖啡归类到“可能”致癌列。

This was because of a link to bladder cancer.

这是由于咖啡似乎跟膀胱癌有关联。

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

但专家团队现在认为没有充分的证据表明咖啡能导致癌症。

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

已有结论表明，饮用很烫的饮料——高于正常饮用温度——也可能致癌，

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

国际癌症研究机构说饮用热饮与食道癌之间有关联。

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

但这种风险只在饮用高于65℃的饮料时才存在。

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

这项研究基于伊朗、中国以及南美等会饮用70℃以上茶饮的地区。

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

由23位科学家回顾几百项研究后得出结论。

What should we make of this?

我们应该做什么?

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，专家承认他们现在并不清楚咖啡是否致癌。之前，他们说咖啡可能会。

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级分类过程与某人患癌的可能性无关，这只是说某样东西是否会致癌。

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类——专家深信会致癌的——包括吸烟和吃加工肉类。

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

但吸烟提高的致癌风险可达20倍，而平常我们使用加工肉类的风险甚至不到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.

之前国际癌症研究机构认为咖啡可能致癌。这项判断并非基于饮用咖啡导致癌症的概率，而只是说两者似有一定关联。

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

现在认为得出致癌或者不致癌的证据都不充分。

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.

这对咖啡饮用者有什么区别吗?值得怀疑。大部分人在咖啡被列为有风险时，也不会在早晨喝咖啡时考虑癌症的问题。

The IARC runs a register of environmental causes of cancer.

国际癌症研究机构有一份环境致癌的列表。

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.

范围从1，包括吸烟等致癌证据充分的，到4，似乎没有风险的。

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

从1991年起，咖啡被列入2B——与膀胱癌似乎有关联。

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

现在，被转到3类，意味着咖啡无法被准确分类。

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

国际癌症研究机构还指出咖啡饮用者中患有肝癌脏和子宫癌的概率更低。

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

世界癌症研究基金会的Rachel Thompson博士说，这些结果是新兴研究的体现。

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

她说，英国的饮茶者不应该感到恐慌。

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

“这些新的发现并不意味着你不该享用热饮，”她说。

"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."

“很高温度才被认为会致癌，所以，在饮用茶或其他热饮时，先放凉几分钟，尤其是你没有加牛奶的话。”

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."

国家咖啡协会主席Bill Murray说：“这一发现是个好消息，对咖啡饮用者具有重要意义。这是由德高望重的独立科学家们，经过先进的研究确认的。”