Alcohol labels should warn of cancer risk, urge health groups
Alcoholic drinks should have labels that explicitly state the link between drinking and cancer, an alliance of doctors, charities and public experts has urged.
The labels are vital to combatting a historic lack of awareness among Britons that alcohol consumption is proven to cause seven forms of cancer, as well as 17,000 cases of the disease a year, they claim.
The campaign to have warnings placed on alcoholic drinks is being spearheaded by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), which has written a letter to Sir Keir Starmer.
They demanded that 'bold and unambiguous' labels be placed on all drinks containing alcohol, while also calling for a minimum alcohol pricing of 65p per unit in England.
'The evidence is clear: health labelling on alcoholic drinks is urgently needed in the UK to help save lives,' it said. 'They should carry strong, clear messages about the health risks, which include the risk of cancer, far beyond vague advice like 'consume in moderation'.'
Kate Oldridge-Turner, the WCRF's head of policy and public affairs, said: 'Providing alcohol warning labels would empower millions to make informed choices by clearly understanding the risks.'
Dr Helen Croker, assistant director of research and policy at WCRF, suggested 'bottles of beer show less information than bottles of orange juice', suggesting that England must have a national alcohol strategy. It has not had a plan in place since 2012.
From next May, Ireland will become the first country in the world to include cancer warning labels on alcoholic drinks. They will be required to warn consumers of a 'direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers'.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation's European office issued calls for such labelling to become commonplace, publishing a report entitled: 'Alcohol health warning labels: a public health perspective for Europe'.
Introducing the report, WHO regional director Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge claimed that 'clear and prominent health warning labels on alcohol, which include a specific cancer warning, are a cornerstone of the right to health'.
The organisation added in the report that policymakers should 'resist all the pressure that will inevitably come from commercial actors' who suggest warning labels will not work.
Alcohol industry spokespeople have since voiced their opposition to warning labels, claiming they can create 'unnecessary anxiety'.
A spokesperson for the Portman Group, a drinks industry-funded body that oversees alcohol labelling in the UK, told The Guardian: 'Whilst we do not dispute the link between alcohol and certain cancers, and that drinking at harmful levels is dangerous and increases risks, blanket cancer warning labels are not a proportionate policy measure and do not put the risks into an appropriate context.
'This can create unnecessary anxiety, eroding trust in health advice and alienating the very people who require support.'
They added that most drinks already include the advice from the UK's chief medical officers to drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week.
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