A California court ruling this week that a cancer warning label should be required on coffee has left the scientific community puzzled.
There is plenty of research showing that coffee doesn’t cause cancer, and can actually prevent liver and endometrial cancer. The World Health Organization announced two years ago that there was “no conclusive evidence for a carcinogenic effect of drinking coffee.”
The decision has put public health experts at odds with a state law aimed at safeguarding the health of Californians.
“I can understand the logic of the judge, by going by the book. But I can also understand the science,” said Mariana Carla Stern, a USC professor who studies diet and cancer. “From the science standpoint, there’s no reason the public should worry about drinking coffee.”