WASHINGTON: Alcoholic drinks should carry a label warning consumers about their cancer risks, the United States Surgeon General said in an advisory on Friday (Jan 3), noting that their consumption increases the risk of developing several cancers but most individuals remain unaware of these risks.
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also called for the guidelines on alcohol consumption limits to be reassessed so that people can weigh the cancer risk when deciding whether or how much to drink, alongside current warnings on birth defects and impairments when operating machinery. These warnings were first put in place in 1988, and have remained unchanged since.
“While scientific evidence for this connection has been growing over the past four decades, less than half of Americans recognize it as a risk factor for cancer,” Murthy’s office said in a statement.
The decision to update the label will ultimately be made by Congress. Murthy could be succeeded by Janette Nesheiwat, a director of a New York chain of urgent care clinics and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the role.
Shares of US-listed alcoholic beverage makers Brown-Forman Corp and Molson Coors fell about 1 per cent in premarket trade.
European spirit makers and brewers stocks also moved lower, with Remy Cointreau falling over 4 per cent. Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the US, after tobacco and obesity, increasing the risk for at least seven types of cancer, according to the report.
“The direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well-established for at least seven types of cancer … regardless of the type of alcohol (eg, beer, wine, and spirits) that is consumed,” the statement said, including cancers of the esophagus, mouth, throat and voice box.
Alcohol is responsible for 100,000 US cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths each year, more than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash deaths, per the new report.
The new report recommends health care providers should encourage alcohol screening and treatment referrals as needed, and efforts to increase general awareness should be expanded.
