Alcoholic beverages should carry a label warning consumers of cancer risks, the U.S. Surgeon General said in an advisory on Friday, noting that consuming them increases the risk of breast, colon, liver and other types of cancer.
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also called for a re-evaluation of guidelines on alcohol consumption limits so that people can weigh their cancer risk when deciding whether to drink or how much, beyond existing warnings about birth defects and disabilities when operating machinery.
Shares of US-listed alcoholic beverage makers fell between one percent and ninety percent in pre-market trading, with Brown-Forman Corp BFb.N leading the declines.
“Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, increasing the risk of at least seven types of cancer,” Murthy’s office said in a statement accompanying the new report.
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She added that it is responsible for 100,000 cancer cases in the United States and 20,000 cancer deaths every year, meaning more than 13,500 deaths related to alcohol-related traffic accidents.
In the United States, there are about 20,000 cancer deaths caused by alcohol annually, according to the report.
Alcoholic beverages in the United States currently carry a health warning label advising pregnant women not to drink them and that their consumption impairs a person’s ability to drive a vehicle or operate machinery.
This name has not changed since its establishment in 1988.
“The direct relationship between alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well-established for at least seven types of cancer… regardless of the type of alcohol (e.g., beer, wine, spirits) consumed,” including cancers, the statement said. Esophagus, mouth, larynx and voice box.
The new report recommends that health care providers encourage alcohol screening and treatment referrals as needed, and efforts to increase public awareness should be expanded.
