WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is urging that alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine, be labeled with warnings about their links to cancer, citing a significant lack of public awareness regarding the health risks associated with these popular products.
In an advisory issued on Friday, Murthy emphasized the growing body of evidence over decades linking alcohol consumption to cancer. Despite this, less than half of Americans recognize the connection between drinking and an increased risk of developing various cancers. According to Murthy, alcohol causes approximately 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related deaths annually in the United States—far surpassing the 13,500 alcohol-related traffic fatalities reported each year. Adding a cancer warning to alcohol labels would help bring attention to the severe health risks of these widely consumed products, Murthy explained. Alcohol is consumed at least once a week by more than 70% of U.S. adults, and the alcoholic beverage industry generated around $260 billion in sales in 2022.
Following the announcement, shares of major alcoholic beverage companies took a hit. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the maker of Budweiser, saw its stock drop 2.8% in Brussels, while Constellation Brands fell 0.3% in New York, and Molson Coors dropped 3.4%.
The link between alcohol and cancer has been established since the 1980s, with alcohol ranking behind only tobacco and obesity as a preventable cause of the disease. Murthy’s advisory notes that alcohol has been directly connected to at least seven types of cancer, including those of the breast, throat, mouth, esophagus, voice box, colon, and liver.
The Surgeon General is recommending that guidelines on alcohol use be reexamined to account for these risks, and that doctors emphasize the dangers of alcohol consumption when advising patients.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has long warned that alcohol consumption at any level, not just excessive drinking, is a modifiable risk factor for cancer. AMA President Bruce Scott welcomed the Surgeon General’s advisory, stating that the new label updates would help raise awareness, improve public health, and save lives.
This is not just a national issue; alcohol is linked to about 741,300 cancer cases globally, according to 2020 data. However, a 2019 survey revealed that only 45% of Americans were aware of alcohol’s cancer risks, in stark contrast to the nearly 90% awareness of the risks posed by tobacco and radiation exposure.
