U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Friday called for additional warning labels on alcohol, with his office issuing an advisory identifying alcohol as a leading cause of cancer.
"Cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol,” Murthy wrote Friday on X. “As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk.”
And labels could help, agreed Dr. Aashish Didwania, vice chair of education at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
"Few people know there is an association between alcohol and cancer,” Didwania said in a statement issued Friday,
But congressional approval would be needed to add the warning. It would change alcohol labels for the first time since about four decades ago, when Congress signed off on adding warnings about drinking while pregnant.
Alcohol consumption is to blame for nearly one million preventable cancer cases in the U.S. over the last decade, according to the surgeon general's report, with about 20,000 people dying annually from those alcohol-related cancer cases alone.
Consuming alcohol raises the risk of developing at least seven types of cancer diseases, including liver, breast and throat cancer, research has found. Murthy's advisory also notes that as a person’s alcohol consumption goes up, so does the risk for developing those illnesses.
But Jefferey Ohrn, a bartender at Montrose Saloon for the last 17 years — and patron there since the 1980s — doesn’t expect anything to change.
Still, if Congress did approve it, doesn't think it will dissuade drinkers.
“I don’t have an issue with it. It’s on cigarettes and that’s helpful,” Ohrn told the Sun-Times while sitting at the bar Friday afternoon. “Whether or not they’ll read it and live by it, who knows. … I’m not sure how big the impact would be. I think people come in here and know what they’re doing.”
The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild expressed some skepticism in a statement issued Friday.
"We will let others debate the science: The science on alcohol consumption is far from settled, and there are many who view “no safe level” as the product of bad science," said Ray Stout, executive director of the group. "Nevertheless, we recommend that the industry let third parties — respected researchers in the field — do the talking."
Stout's statement continued: "We support the commonsense pleasures of moderate alcohol consumption — unwinding with friends on the weekend, enjoying a sporting event, or toasting a special occasion."
Other research around alcohol, including reports that moderate drinking can be associated with lower risks to of heart disease compared to no alcohol consumption, should be considered, said Amanda Berger of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
Cigarette packages must have “permanently affixed” warnings that make up at least half the front and rear panels of the package. Those warnings also must be visible under any cellophane covers, and some contain graphic images of the consequences of tobacco use — like a picture of a diseased lung.
Stores are also required to display cigarette warnings.
Similar guidelines for alcohol could mean putting up warning signs, or changing how liquor bottles are displayed behind the bar. With space at a premium, “I’m not sure what we would do,” Ohrn said.
Either way, Ohrn added, drinkers know how to be responsible.
“We have nonalcoholic beer that sells very well here and people are talking about doing dry January, so people are aware of their health. They know what they’re doing,” Ohrn said.
The report, on the other hand, warns that intermittent drinking also carries risks, though that risk increases with the amount of alcohol consumed.
“It further reverses the misbelief that moderate drinking is healthy,” Didwania said. “Moderate drinking is not healthy.”
The surgeon general's advisory comes as the government is in the process of updating dietary guidelines, including those around alcohol, that will form the cornerstone of federal food programs and policy. The updated guidelines are expected later this year.
Current guidelines recommend women have one drink or fewer per day while men should stick to two or fewer.
Contributing: staff writer Amy Yee; Associated Press
