Adedokun Waliyu 
Health warning labels on alcohol should be updated to include a cancer risk warning, the surgeon general said Friday, adding that recommended limits for alcohol consumption should also be reassessed, given the increased cancer risk.
Alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, Vivek H. Murthy said in an advisory. It contributes to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related deaths each year, he added.
“Higher alcohol consumption increases alcohol-related cancer risk, yet only 45% of American adults are aware that consuming alcohol increases their risk of developing cancer,” Murthy wrote on X.
Any mandatory changes to the health warning labels would need to be approved by Congress. President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, has announced Janette Nesheiwat, a family and emergency medicine physician and onetime Fox News contributor, as his pick for the next surgeon general.
In his advisory, Murthy described health warning labels as “well-established and effective approaches to increasing awareness of health hazards and fostering behavior change.”
He noted that the current label statements, which warn about drinking alcohol during pregnancy and the impact of alcohol on driving a car or operating machinery, have not been updated since 1988.
