One in 10 believe coffee causes cancer (it doesn’t)

Almost 10 per cent of British adults wrongly think coffee causes cancer, a new study has found.

One in 10 British adults wrongly believe coffee causes cancer (Getty Images)

Around one in 10 British adults mistakenly think coffee causes cancer, with 9 per cent of those polled believing that consuming the drink can lead to developing the disease.

The survey of 2000 adults, was carried out by the World Cancer Research Fund to highlight misconceptions about coffee.

“There is no scientific evidence that coffee causes any form of cancer but the latest analysis of research has shown that it can have a preventative effect against womb cancer and there are suggestions it may protect against liver cancer,” the charity said in a statement.

Six per cent say of those surveyed said that coffee can protect against the disease. One in 10 meanwhile, think caffeine can help with weight loss, despite, according to the WCRF, there being no scientific evidence for the assumption.

Furthermore, more than one in five were found to believe caffeine is the “most dangerous” substance in coffee, when the highest health risk associated with the drink is sugar and full-fat milk or cream that is added to it, the charity said.

Dr Rachel Thompson, head of research interpretation at the charity said: “New evidence from our Continuous Update Project (CUP) suggests drinking coffee may decrease the risk of womb cancer, but there are still too many unanswered questions - such as how many cups we should drink, or how regularly - for us to provide any advice on coffee drinking.”

“The CUP has found no consistent evidence that suggests coffee increases or decreases the risk of any other cancers but we are continually reviewing the evidence to see if this changes.”