Should Alcohol Labels Warn of Cancer Risks?

To the Editor:

Re “A Debate Over Cancer Warning Labels on Alcohol” (Science Times, April 9):

This article does an admirable job of spotlighting efforts around the world to require cancer warnings on alcohol. In fact, similar efforts to improve alcohol labeling are gaining traction in the U.S.

Just last month, U.S. regulators held listening sessions about including ingredients, nutritional information and allergen labeling on alcoholic beverages. And in 2020, a coalition of seven health advocacy groups petitioned the U.S. government to adopt a cancer warning label.

U.S. law directs regulators to consult with the surgeon general and “promptly” report to Congress when the need for an amendment to alcohol warnings arises. But more than seven years have passed since the surgeon general proclaimed a link between alcohol and cancer with no action from the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates most alcohol products.

It’s great news that governments are taking steps so that residents of Ireland, Thailand and Canada will finally get the truth about alcohol, and it’s long past time for the U.S. to follow suit.

Christina LiPuma
Burlington, Vt.
The writer is a policy associate at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

To the Editor:

We object to how your article portrays the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States’ perspective with regard to labeling alcohol beverages to warn consumers about possible health concerns. DISCUS supports appropriate labeling, which has been required in the United States since 1988.