Surgeon General calls for new label on drinks to warn Americans of alcohol's cancer risk

[January 04, 2025]  By AMANDA SEITZ

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alcohol is a leading cause of cancer, a risk that should be clearly labeled on drinks Americans consume, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy proposed on Friday.

Murthy's advisory comes as research and evidence mounts about the bad effects that alcohol has on human health, but his proposal for a label would require a rare approval from the U.S. Congress.

Americans should be better informed about the link between alcohol and cancer, in particular, Murthy argues in his advisory, noting alcohol consumption is to blame for nearly one million preventable cancer cases in the U.S. over the last decade. About 20,000 people die every year from those alcohol-related cancer cases, according to his advisory.

Bottles of beer, wine and liquor already carry warning labels that say pregnant women should not drink and that alcohol consumption can impair someone's ability to drive a car. But Murthy's proposed label would go even further, raising awareness about the risk for cancer, too.

“It’s pretty crazy that there’s a lot more information on a can of peas than on a bottle of whiskey,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, who directs the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. “Consumers have the right to basic information about health risks, serving size and drinks per container.”

Consuming alcohol raises the risk of developing at least seven types of cancer diseases, including liver, breast and throat cancer, research has found. His advisory also notes that as a person's alcohol consumption goes up, so does the risk for developing those illnesses.

“For individuals, be aware that cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol,” Murthy wrote Friday on the social media platform X. “As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk.”

Even with the Surgeon General's advisory and new research that shows the dangers of drinking, it's unlikely Congress would act swiftly to enact a new Surgeon General's warning on alcohol products.

 Jim Beam, Knob Creek and other alcohol bottles are pictured at a bar in Eagle, Colo., Dec. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

It's been nearly four decades since Congress approved the first government warning label on alcohol, the one that says pregnant women shouldn't drink and warns about the dangers of driving while drinking. No updates have been made since then.

Before that, Congress approved a label on cigarettes cautioning users that smoking is hazardous to health, a move that is credited with helping America substantially reduce its bad habit.

Any effort to add a cancer warning label to alcohol would face significant push back from a well-funded and powerful beverage industry, which spends nearly $30 million every year lobbying Congress.

Other research around alcohol, including reports that moderate drinking can be associated with lower risks to of heart disease compared to no alcohol consumption, should be considered, said Amanda Berger of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

“Many lifestyle choices carry potential risks, and it is the federal government’s role to determine any proposed changes to the warning statements based on the entire body of scientific research,” Berger said in a statement.

The surgeon general’s advisory comes as the government is in the process of updating dietary guidelines, including those around alcohol, that will form the cornerstone of federal food programs and policy. The updated guidelines are expected later this year.

The current guidelines recommend women have one drink or fewer per day while men should stick to two or fewer.

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Associated Press writer Carla K. Johnson contributed.

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