WASHINGTON, DC – January 2025 – This month, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has recommended that Congress require that alcohol beverages have a health warning label to inform consumers about an association between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer. Alcohol beverages already have a Congress-mandated warning label. However, there is no warning about increasing cancer risk. There is conclusive medical and scientific evidence that 7 cancers are linked to drinking alcohol. They can occur in the breast, colorectal, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat and voice box (larynx).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required health warnings on certain consumer products (cigarettes and alcohol) to promote a greater public understanding of the adverse health effects of using these products. Any creation, changes or additions to the warning labels required Congressional approval.
According to the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act of 1988, a health warning label must appear on all alcohol beverages for sale or distribution in the U.S. containing not less than 0.5 per cent alcohol by volume. The warning has 2 messages: “1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems.”
Alcohol consumption is one of the leading preventable causes of cancer. It is responsible for about 100 thousand new cancers and 20 thousand cancer deaths in the U.S. every year.
Health warning labels can increase the public awareness of hazardous products (like cigarettes and other tobacco products) and effect a change in personal behavior. This has been shown to include alcohol-related risks. Warning labels on alcohol beverages in Canada have already shown that Canadians are generally more aware of the increased risk of cancer with drinking.
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Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, healthyasheville@ashevillefm.org