Alcoholic drinks should carry a warning about cancer risks on their label, the United States surgeon general said in a move that could signal a shift towards more aggressive tobacco-style regulation for the sector.
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said increased the risk of at least seven types of cancer, including breast, colon and liver cancer, but most US consumers remain unaware of the consequences.
Murthy also called for the guidelines on alcohol consumption limits to be reassessed so people can weigh the cancer risk when deciding whether or .
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (pictured) said alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable cancer in the US. Source: AAP / Ted Shaffrey/AP
"Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity," Murthy's office said in a statement accompanying a new report on alcohol and cancer risk, adding the type of alcohol consumed does not matter.
His advisory sent shares in alcohol companies including Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken down, in some cases over 3 per cent.
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What will happen under the Trump presidency?
It is unclear when or if the surgeon general's suggestions will be adopted.
US President Joe Biden's administration is ending and Murthy could be succeeded by president-elect Donald Trump's pick for the role Janette Nesheiwat, a director of a New York chain of urgent care clinics.
Trump, whose brother died from alcoholism and who does not drink himself, has long warned about the risks of alcohol.
Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump's nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has been open about his past struggles with heroin and alcohol and says he attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
The decision to update labels will ultimately be made by Congress.
A history of health warnings
Murthy's advisory harks back to early US surgeon general action on tobacco, starting with a 1964 report that concluded smoking could cause cancer.
The report kicked off decades of increasingly strict regulations, starting with US laws on warning labels one year later and still ongoing today.
Alcoholic drinks in the US already carry warnings on packaging, including that drinking alcohol while pregnant can cause birth defects and impair judgment when operating machinery.
Murthy's recommendations call for an update to existing labels, rather than new cigarette-style warnings that are displayed prominently on every packet.
In the US, among the largest markets for many western producers, alcohol sales have been falling following a post-pandemic boom.
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Public health bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO) are also increasingly turning their attention toward alcohol after making progress on stronger tobacco controls.
The WHO says there is no safe level of drinking and that even a small amount of alcohol can harm health — a position that has prompted tense debate around the impact of moderate drinking and its role in society.
