The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has published a report calling for mandatory cancer warning labels on all alcoholic beverages, emphasising that alcohol consumption is a leading cause of cancer, responsible for over 100,000 new cases annually in the region. The new report highlights that alcohol is linked to at least seven types of cancer, including breast, liver, and colorectal cancers.
Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, stated:
Consumers have a right to know the health risks of alcohol, just as they do with tobacco.”
He stressed that clear labelling is a critical step in raising public awareness and reducing harm, urging governments to implement these measures despite expected resistance from the alcohol industry.
Responding to the report in The Guardian, Kate Oldridge-Turner of The World Cancer Research Fund said:
Despite the fact that our own evidence shows alcohol is a risk factor for at least seven cancers, it is currently exempt from any mandatory warning labels in most countries. This is of great concern given how few people are aware of the links between alcohol and cancer.”
A 2016 study found that only 12.9% of people in England could identify alcohol as a cause of cancer unprompted.
The alcohol trade organisation The Portman Group, which self-regulates alcohol labelling, said that including cancer warnings would “create unnecessary anxiety, eroding trust in health advice”.
IAS’s Dr Katherine Severi said:
In the UK we’ve got into a ludicrous situation where a bottle of orange juice or milk require more information on their label than a bottle of wine or vodka. Our inadequate regulations have for too long favoured alcohol companies over the health of the public. By tasking the alcohol industry – through its trade organisation The Portman Group – with being the gatekeeper of health information, the government is allowing consumers to be kept in the dark about what is in their products, as well as the numerous health risks of drinking alcohol. It’s hardly surprising that so few people know alcohol causes cancer, but this needs to change.
The solution is simple: mandatory labelling requirements that include ingredients, calories, units, the CMOs’ drinking guidelines, and crucially, health risks such as alcohol during pregnancy and cancer. People have a right to know what they are putting in their bodies and we urge the government to empower consumers to make fully informed decisions about their drinking.”