Why Alcoholic Beverages May Receive a New Risk Label

Cigarettes carry a cancer warning label — and alcoholic beverages should too, according to a January 2025 advisory report, Alcohol and Cancer Risk, issued by then–U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD.

“This advisory highlights alcohol use as a leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, contributing to nearly 100,000 cancer cases and about 20,000 ­cancer deaths each year,” Murthy’s report states.

Alcohol consumption is associated with a greater risk for at least seven types of cancer.

Alcohol consumption is associated with a greater risk for at least seven types of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These include cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus, liver, and colon and rectum.

Researchers suspect alcohol works in four ways to cause cancer:

• It can break down into acetaldehyde, which may damage DNA.
• It can induce oxidative stress and increase inflammation. This may promote greater cancer risk by harming DNA, proteins, and cellular health.
• It may alter the levels of multiple hormones, including estrogen, which can increase breast-cancer risk.
• It can promote greater absorption of other carcinogens.

The World Health Organization stated in 2023 that there is no safe limit for alcohol consumption, and 47 countries worldwide currently require warnings on alcoholic drinks. Still, cancer is rarely noted on these — although South Korea has a label warning about liver cancer, and Ireland plans to introduce labels in 2026 noting there’s a “direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers.”

Murthy’s report called on Congress to mandate the warning on alcohol containers. But Murthy left office in January 2025, and it’s uncertain whether the federal government will act on his advisory. (For more on the health effects of alcohol, see “What Are the Health Effects of Moderate Alcohol Consumption?“)

This article originally appeared as “A Call for Warning Labels on Alcohol” in the July/August 2025 issue of Experience Life.