Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S Surgeon General, said alcoholic beverages should carry cancer warnings to increase awareness that the drinks are a leading cause of preventable cancers. An act of Congress would be required to change the existing warning labels on bottles of beer, wine, and liquor.
Dr. Murthy said, “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. Yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk.”
Alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of cancer in the U.S. after tobacco and obesity.
Averaging no more than one drink a day carries relatively low risk, according to scientists who study alcohol. They warn the risk of cancer rises significantly when you exceed that.
Heavy drinkers have the following risks:
- a 5-fold risk of oral cavity and a 2.6-fold higher risk of larynx cancer
- a 5-fold increase in esophagus cancer
- a 1.6-fold increase in breast cancer
- a 2-fold increase in liver cancer
Other studies looked at specific cancers, like breast cancer and mouth cancer, finding the risks increased by 10 percent and 40 percent, respectively, for those who had just one drink a day, when compared with those who did not drink.
It is unclear if the surgeon general’s proposal would get bipartisan support in Congress which has not adopted major legislation on the alcohol industry since 1988.
