As one of his final acts as U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy called for alcohol products to carry a label warning that they can cause cancer. His office also published a report detailing just how carcinogenic booze can be,

Alcohol is responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths per year in the United States, making it the third-leading preventable cause of cancer after tobacco and obesity. In 2025,

Coming up at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about the U.S. Surgeon General’s recent advisory calling for expanding the warning label on alcohol to link it to an increased risk for some cancers.

The HHS’ Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking, or ICCPUD, published its draft report on associations between health and alcohol intake, finding that even moderate alcohol intake raises the risk for death.

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Alcohol use remains one of the most preventable risk factors for cancer. Even moderate alcohol consumption — one or fewer drinks per day — may elevate cancer risk for some types, such as breast, throat, and mouth cancers.

The News spoke with Yale experts about the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendations for raising awareness about alcohol’s cancer risk.

"Based on data from the eight eligible studies from 2019 to 2023, the committee concludes that compared with never consuming alcohol, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower all-cause mortality," the review states. The reviewers rated the conclusion as having "moderate certainty."

South Korea currently requires warning labels about alcohol and cancer, and Ireland will require them starting in 2026.

The U.S. Surgeon General is calling to add cancer warning labels to alcohol. In a recent advisory, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to include a cancer risk warning in the warning labels on alcohol. He says alcohol is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., behind tobacco use and obesity.

Alcohol has already taken center stage in 2025 after the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory calling for warning labels highlighting the risk of cancer in drinking boozy ...

Research suggests that alcohol causes cancer through at least five different mechanisms. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.