Surgeon general advisory adds to mixed messages on alcohol

• The arguments over what to tell consumers will play out ahead of an anticipated new edition of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines due out later this year, per the New York Times.

Driving the news: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Friday called for the U.S. to adopt cancer warning labels on alcoholic beverages similar to the ones mandated for cigarettes.

• It falls in line with a 2023 warning from the World Health Organization about the cancer risks associated with alcohol consumption.
• But Murthy's advisory came just weeks after the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine — which helps inform the federal guidelines — issued a report that found moderate drinking may lessen the risk of dying or having hearts attacks and strokes compared with complete abstinence.
• The National Academies found some increased risk for breast and colorectal cancer, but made no broader connection with most other cancers.

What they're saying: "It's confusing for people," said Jody Hoyos of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. "Even all the guideline bodies have had difficulty over the past decades in coming to conclusions. But the connection between cancer risk and alcohol has been clear in the research."

• According to Murthy's advisory, alcohol use is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., after tobacco and obesity, and contributes to nearly 100,000 cancer cases and about 20,000 cancer deaths annually.

• "The most important [thing] is to be aware of the risks, be honest with your physician, so that they can implement the right screenings and the right help, if you want to quit or if you want to to decrease the amount," said Rebecca Miksad, chief medical officer of Color Health, a health tech company that provides cancer detection services.

Between the lines: Americans are already drinking less — fueled in particular by younger generations — or skipping the booze altogether for zero-proof drinks.