US medical chief says alcohol should come with labels warning about its cancer risk

Alcoholic drinks should carry a label warning consumers about their cancer risks because alcohol use is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the US after tobacco and obesity, according to a new advisory by the US surgeon general.

- Maya Yang

Released yesterday, the advisory revealed that alcohol use contributes to nearly 100,000 cancer cases and about 20,000 cancer deaths each year. It also found that alcohol-related cancer deaths shorten the lives of those who die by an average of 15 years.

The US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, also called for the guidelines on alcohol consumption limits to be reassessed so consumers can weigh up the cancer risk when deciding whether or how much to drink.

Alcoholic drinks in the US already have warnings about birth defects and impairments when operating machinery.

"Alcohol consumption [increases] the risk for at least seven types of cancer," Murthy's office said in a statement with the new report.

Any such change to warning labels has to be done by the US congress.

According to the advisory, the largest burden of alcohol-related cancer in the US is for breast cancer in women, with an estimated 44,180 cases in 2019, accounting for 16.4% of the approximately 270,000 total breast cancer cases for women.