Cancer label for alcoholic drinks divides Colorado experts
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Colorado experts and industry veterans are divided over U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's recent call for the U.S. to adopt warning labels on alcoholic beverages.
State of play: The advisory recommends revising the labels to include explicit cancer risk warnings. The report characterizes alcohol as a "leading preventable cause of cancer."
- Alcohol use contributes to nearly 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the U.S., per the report.
Why it matters: The advisory could lead more people to reexamine their drinking habits in a state with high rates of alcohol-induced death and binge drinking.
Between the lines: Colorado ranked seventh, tied with Oregon, among states in rates of alcohol-induced deaths in 2022, per data released last year by the health policy nonprofit KFF.
- The state's rate of 24.5 per 100,000 people in 2022 dropped slightly from 2021, when it was 26.5. Colorado ranked sixth in the nation for binge drinking, defined as four or more drinks for women or five or more drinks for men, per data published in December 2023.
State of play: Eden Bernstein, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, tells us multiple factors are involved in a person's cancer risks when drinking alcohol, including genetics and smoking.
- Bernstein, a doctor who specializes in alcohol addiction research, says cancer risks increase the more you drink — both in terms of drinks per day and the number of days per week you consume it.
Between the lines: While Bernstein says the label is a "step in the right direction," he adds it's difficult to say what broader impact it could have, including reducing deaths.
- But "at least they're making an informed decision; at least they know what the risks are," Bernstein says.
The other side: Marty Jones, a longtime local craft beer promoter, says the surgeon general's advisory overshadowed a reputable report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
- Released Dec. 17, the report showed moderate drinking may lessen the risk of dying or heart attacks and strokes compared with abstinence, Axios' Tina Reed writes.
- Congress requested the report to help shape dietary guidelines, though it doesn't offer recommendations or advice, per its website.
What they're saying: "This is bad news for craft beer, but it's also bad news for the discussion about beer and alcohol and health because it's a very complex issue," Jones tells us about the surgeon general's advisory.
Context: Murthy's advisory suggests drinking alcohol increases risks of at least seven types of cancer, including colon, breast (in women), liver, mouth and throat.
What's next: It's unclear how the incoming Trump administration will act on the surgeon general's recommendation, per USA Today.
- Congress has the authority to change health warning labels on alcoholic beverages.