…complicating factor here, though, is the way much of the research on hot drinks has been conducted. One of the more recent studies, for instance, looked at tea drinkers in Iran, where the study authors noted that consumption of black tea without milk is very common — but only categorised people’s smoking habits as “never”, “former” or “current” and split alcohol use into “never” had a drink, and if they had “ever” had a drink. This is important, says Thompson: “The risk is higher if people are also drinking alcohol above safe limits and smoking — these are both independent risk factors for developing squamous cell carcinoma of the gullet.”
