Western Kenya has reportedly been linked with having the highest rates of throat or food pipe cancer as a result of hot tea.
A study at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet County revealed that people from Western Kenya drink the hottest tea ever recorded anywhere else in the world.
The study indicated that Kenyans from the Western region prefer their tea at temperatures exceeding 72 degrees Celsius.
The study compared the temperature at which Kenyans drink their tea and found it higher than Tanzania, Brazil, China, Germany US, Iran and the UK, areas of high throat cancers.
While the study reported no association between age and preferred temperature in tea, men were likely to consume hotter beverages than women by more than two degrees.
According to the study, 12 participants, all men, had started drinking the tea immediately at the poured temperature of 80 degrees Celsius.
The researchers had involved 100 men and women at Tenwek Hospital.
The researchers first asked the study participants how they liked their tea, either warm hot or very hot with a majority, 64 percent stating that they liked it hot.
The temperature of the tea was measured using a digital thermometer, with most participants on average taking their tea at 72.1 degrees Celsius.
High beverage or food temperatures have been associated with a risk of throat cancer in several parts of the world.
Experts have identified Throat cancer as the sixth most common cause of cancer death worldwide with a high distribution in Central Asia, Western Kenya and parts of South Africa.
