Coffee is considered “hot” at 122 to 149 degrees F and “very hot” above 149 degrees F.
Higher temperatures can cause long- and short-term health consequences.
Mouth and Throat Burns
Restaurants and coffee bars may serve drinks between 160 and 185 degrees F, which has the potential to cause “significant scald burns,” research shows.
“Piping-hot coffee can cause an immediate thermal scald to the lining of the mouth, throat, and esophagus,” says Sripathi Kethu, MD, a gastroenterologist in Dallas, adding that injury to your mouth’s mucosal layer and cell-turnover changes in these areas can start at about 140 degrees F.
“This shows up as a burning or stinging sensation, redness, blistering or peeling of the mucosa, and pain with swallowing,” Dr. Kethu says. Hot liquids can also potentially harm the pain nerves in the esophagus.
Esophageal Cancer Risk
Repeatedly drinking very hot coffee can damage cells and increase your risk for esophageal cancer, Vasagar says.
Drinks hotter than 149 degrees F are classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
A recent study published in the International Journal of Cancer, involving nearly a million people, found that those who drink coffee and other beverages “very hot” rather than “warm” had about a threefold increase in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
“The leading explanation is that repeated thermal injury forces the [esophageal] lining to keep regenerating cells, which promotes cancer over time,” Kethu says. “Importantly, the risk is tied to temperature, not coffee itself; coffee at a reasonable temperature is not considered a cause, and some studies even suggest it may be protective.”
Esophageal cancer makes up only about 1 percent of all cancer diagnosed in the United States and is much more common in other parts of the world.
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