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

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alcohol is a leading cause of cancer, a risk that should be clearly labelled on drinks Americans consume, US 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 US 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 US 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.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.