Calls for warning labels on alcohol may grow after US announcement

A University of Otago researcher says more than 1000 cases of cancers are attributable to alcohol in New Zealand each year. Photo / 123RF

By Rachel Helyer Donladson, RNZ

Warning labels on alcoholic drinks would help limit the number of cancers caused by alcohol, but other policies are also needed, says a public health researcher.

In the US, Surgeon-General Vivek Murthy has called for a reassessment of alcohol consumption guidelines and wants alcoholic drinks to carry a warning about cancer risks on their label.

Murthy said alcohol consumption increased the risk of at least seven types of cancer, including breast, colon and liver cancer, but most consumers remained unaware of this.

University of Otago senior research fellow Dr Anja Mizdrak said locally, more than 1000 cases of cancers are attributable to alcohol each year. Many of those people were moderate drinkers, she added.

“So it’s not just heavy consumption of alcohol that causes cancer, but also moderate consumption.”

Labels would help raise awareness of this but they were not enough, Mizdrak said.

“I don’t think they’re sufficient to deal with alcohol-related harms, and we also need to implement other actions, like reducing the availability, increasing tax and banning marketing of alcohol.”

Murthy also said alcohol was the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States after tobacco and obesity, and his comments could signal a shift towards a more aggressive tobacco-style regulation for the sector.

Like most countries, Aotearoa lacked the same guidelines or policies around alcohol that there were around smoking, Mizrak said.

“I think that the alcohol industry is incredibly powerful, and so we’re getting so much marketing some of the time about alcohol... so then it’s kind of tricky, [and] we haven’t introduced all of the things we need to to make it really clear that alcohol, like tobacco, is something that we should be reducing the consumption of.”

Govt seeking advice

In a statement to RNZ, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti said it was important that the Government “take time to carefully consider research and seek advice from relevant experts and stakeholders before making further comment” on alcohol warnings.

The Government was committed to reducing alcohol harm and was championing “a major initiative around harm and prevention”, Reti added.

“This includes new initiatives announced in 2024 to lower the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and the nationwide Nurture the Future Within campaign to promote alcohol-free pregnancies. New FASD initiatives will help the health workforce to assess, diagnose, refer and support people with FASD, with their families.

“There’s strong evidence that prevention and early intervention are the most effective ways to improve health and wellbeing of people with FASD, and these changes aim to better enable that.

“We are seeking further advice from Ministry of Health, [Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora] and the National Public Health Service.”

Flagging up risks

Labour’s health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall said warning labels could help raise awareness that alcohol consumption causes cancer, but the health system should regardless be flagging up the risks of drinking.

“There’s increasing evidence that even low levels of alcohol consumption can cause cancer, and that’s certainly something we need to make sure there’s more awareness of so people can make informed decisions. Whether or not labelling is the right vehicle for that, I think is an open question.”

“I think we’d want to look at [labelling] alongside all the other methods of raising awareness about this issue, because it’s very important – cancer is a condition people are very concerned about in New Zealand, and alcohol is making a big contribution to our cancer rates.”

Verrall said the previous government introduced pregnancy safety labelling on alcohol products warning about the harm it can cause to unborn babies.

But in terms of preventing cancer, the evidence there was no safe drinking limit was only coming to the fore now, she said.

“This is an area of evolving research, and we have certainly seen a debate between the idea that there’s a safe level of alcohol that you can have where a daily limit is proposed for people, versus other scientists saying, ‘Well, actually for alcohol, there’s no safe limit and that’s it’.

“It appears that latter evidence that there’s no safe limit in terms of preventing cancer is coming to the fore now, and I think it is important that we take the time to respond, and digest what that means for public policy.”

The alcohol industry does not support more labelling on alcoholic drinks, NZ Alcohol Beverages Council executive director Virginia Nicholls said.

“The research on warning and advice labels is that while these help to raise issues, they do not change drinking behaviours. The labelling does not take into account the difference between responsible and hazardous drinking. The best place to get information on any health concerns is from your doctor.”

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