Abstract
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluates “very hot (>65 °C) beverages” as probably carcinogenic to humans. However, there is a lack of research regarding what temperatures consumers actually perceive as “very hot” or as “too hot”. A method for sensory analysis of such threshold temperatures was developed. The participants were asked to mix a very hot coffee step by step into a cooler coffee. Because of that, the coffee to be tasted was incrementally increased in temperature during the test. The participants took a sip at every addition, until they perceive the beverage as too hot for consumption. The protocol was evaluated in the form of a pilot study using 87 participants. Interestingly, the average pain threshold of the test group (67 °C) and the preferred drinking temperature (63 °C) iterated around the IARC threshold for carcinogenicity. The developed methodology was found as fit for the purpose and may be applied in larger studies.
Highlights
Since 2016, the cancer risk in connection to hot beverage consumption has received increased scrutiny from science and consumers alike
Each participant receives a cup of cold water, a cup as spittoon, a thermometer (Testo 108, Testo, Lenzkirch, Germany), a beaker, a thermos flask with very hot coffee (Instant coffee, Brand “Gut und Günstig”, Edeka, Hamburg, Germany) and an isolation cup (Styrofoam cup, 400 mL Thermo Cup EPS Neutral, white, Gastro-Sun.de, Blankenhain, Germany) with the “colder” coffee
The standard deviation is 3 ◦ C, which appears to be comparably low in the context of sensory analysis
Summary
Since 2016, the cancer risk in connection to hot beverage consumption has received increased scrutiny from science and consumers alike. The reason for this has been the classification of “very hot beverage consumption” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) into group 2A as “probably carcinogenic to humans” [1,2]. The risk of developing oesophageal carcinoma increases with the consumption of very hot beverages as shown by a number of epidemiological studies [3,4,5,6,7,8]. There are only a few studies available that researched the perception of temperature when consuming hot drinks. The thermoreceptors are responsible for the sensation of heat and cold
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