Surgeon General calls for cancer risk warning on beverages with alcohol
The U.S. surgeon general has issued an advisory calling for a warning about the risk of cancer to be included on alcoholic beverages.
"Given the conclusive evidence on the cancer risk from alcohol consumption and the Office of the Surgeon General's responsibility to inform the American public of the best available scientific evidence, the Surgeon General recommends an update to the Surgeon General's warning label for alcohol-containing beverages to include a cancer risk warning," Dr. Vivek Murthy said in the advisory Friday.
The advisory notes that alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the country, after tobacco and obesity.
"Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States — greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. — yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk," Murthy said in a news release.
Research shows more than 740,000 cancer cases globally could be attributed to alcohol use in 2020. The American public, however, is largely unaware of the risk, despite a link between alcohol use and cancer coming to light in the 1980s and becoming clearer over time, the advisory says.
Warning labels are currently required on alcoholic beverages to state that women who are pregnant should not drink alcohol due to the risk of birth defects. They must also state that "consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems."
The warning label hasn't been updated since 1988, Murthy says, noting that Congress has the ability to change the label.
Murthy calls for adding a cancer risk warning and pursuing changes that would make the warning label "more visible, prominent, and effective in increasing awareness about cancer risks associated with alcohol consumption."
Murthy also calls for reassessing recommended limits for alcohol consumption and boosting education efforts regarding alcohol and cancer, in addition to other measures.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a standard alcoholic drink contains 14 grams (or 0.6 ounces) of pure alcohol. Generally, this amount is found in 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces, or a "shot," of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor.
A recent report from the American Association for Cancer Research found excessive levels of alcohol consumption increase the risk for six different types of cancer, including:
- Breast cancer
- Colorectal cancer
- Liver cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Certain types of head and neck cancer
- Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
"Some of this is happening through chronic inflammation. We also know that alcohol changes the microbiome, so those are the bacteria that live in your gut, and that can also increase the risk," Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, said on "CBS Mornings" in September.
Other studies have shown that there is no "safe amount" of alcohol, Gounder said, particularly if you have underlying medical conditions.
