The US surgeon general wants cancer warnings on alcoholic beverages

America’s top doctor has called for warnings about the dangers of alcohol, similar to cigarette labels, following new research linking the drinks to seven types of cancer.

A consultant from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says “most Americans are unaware of this danger” which leads to approximately 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 deaths per year in the US.

It would require an act of Congress to change the existing warning labels, which have not been updated since 1988.

Mr. Murthy also called for a review of the recommended limits of alcohol consumption and increased efforts to educate about alcoholic beverages and cancer.

The Doctor General, who is the federal government’s leading spokesperson on public health issues, said alcohol is the third most preventable cause of cancer after tobacco and obesity.

“A direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk has been well established for at least seven types of cancer … regardless of the type of alcohol (eg, beer, wine, and spirits) consumed,” Mr. Murthy said in a statement. statement.

This includes an increased risk of cancer of the breast (in women), throat, liver, esophagus, mouth, throat and colon.

The new report recommends that health care providers should promote alcohol testing and treatment referrals as needed, and efforts to increase general awareness should be increased.

Warning labels are currently required to state that pregnant women should not drink alcohol due to risks to birth. It should also state that “drinking alcohol impairs your ability to drive or operate machinery, and may cause health problems”.

Over the past two decades, countries have increasingly introduced warning labels to inform consumers of the health risks of alcohol.

Alcohol and Health Association Global Status Report 2018quoted in Mr Murthy’s report, it said that 47 member countries have approved health and safety warnings on alcohol, up from 31 in 2014.

Ireland is the first country in the world to approve a warning linking any level of alcohol consumption with cancer. From 2026, it will be a legal requirement for all bottles of alcohol in the Republic of Ireland to carry a label.

South Korea also requires cancer-specific warnings for alcohol.

In the US, only Congress can amend the new warning labels recommended by Mr Murthy, and it is not clear whether the incoming Trump administration will support the change.

Many countries are also revising their recommended consumption limits after identifying new studies that there is no value alcohol is safe to drink.

Canada revised its recommendation from about two drinks a day to two a week last year.

The US recommends no more than two drinks a day for men and one for women, while The UK proposes more than 14 “units” of alcohol – about six glasses of wine, or pints of beer – a week.

Share prices of US-listed spirits companies – including Diageo, the world’s largest spirits company – fell 4% following the announcement.