{"id":22459,"date":"2024-04-09T18:43:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T18:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/09\/should-alcoholic-beverages-have-cancer-warning-labels\/"},"modified":"2024-04-09T18:43:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T18:43:00","slug":"should-alcoholic-beverages-have-cancer-warning-labels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/09\/should-alcoholic-beverages-have-cancer-warning-labels\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Alcoholic Beverages Have Cancer Warning Labels?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/09\/multimedia\/00SCI-ALCOHOL-LABELS-01-jflk\/00SCI-ALCOHOL-LABELS-01-jflk-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Should Alcoholic Beverages Have Cancer Warning Labels?\" title=\"Should Alcoholic Beverages Have Cancer Warning Labels?\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Fifteen words<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>are roiling the global alcohol industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Beginning in 2026, containers of beer, wine and liquor sold in Ireland will be required by law to bear a label in red capital letters with two warnings: \u201cTHERE IS A DIRECT LINK BETWEEN ALCOHOL AND FATAL CANCERS\u201d and \u201cDRINKING ALCOHOL CAUSES LIVER DISEASE.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The requirement, signed into law last year, is backed by decades of scientific research and goes much further than any country has thus far communicated the health risks of alcohol consumption. It has sparked fierce opposition from alcohol businesses worldwide, but it is also inspiring a push in some other countries to pursue similar measures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s an important step,\u201d said Dr. Timothy Naimi, the director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria. \u201cPeople who drink should have the right to know basic information about alcohol, just as they do for other food and beverage products.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Thailand, the government is in the final stages of drafting a regulation requiring alcohol products to carry graphic images accompanied by text warnings such as \u201calcoholic beverages can cause cancer,\u201d <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/general\/2750049\/new-attacks-on-booze-label-push\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according to The Bangkok Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.parl.ca\/DocumentViewer\/en\/44-1\/bill\/S-254\/first-reading\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">A bill<\/a> has been introduced in the Canadian Parliament that would require labels on all alcoholic beverages to communicate a \u201cdirect causal link between alcohol consumption and the development of fatal cancers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last week, the Alaska State Legislature held a committee hearing on a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.akleg.gov\/basis\/Bill\/Detail\/33?Root=HB%20298\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">bill<\/a> that would require businesses selling alcohol to post signs carrying a cancer warning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Norway, which already heavily regulates the sale of alcohol, is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.altinget.no\/artikkel\/ett-skritt-naermere-advarsel-paa-vinflaskene-kjerkol-ber-helsedirektoratet-komme-med-konkrete-forslag\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">developing<\/a> proposals for introducing cancer warning labels. The country\u2019s state secretary, Ole Henrik Krat Bjorkholt, who followed Ireland\u2019s effort with great interest, said in an interview, \u201cI think it\u2019s probable that we will implement something similar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ireland has been a trailblazer in setting aggressive public health policies before. In 2004, it became the first country to ban smoking in indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants, a policy since adopted in over 70 countries. The warning label requirement for alcohol could be the start of a similar change in how beverages are packaged, and a vehicle for raising awareness about the dangers of drinking,<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>however small the amount.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-8008f14\">A long fight<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The evidence linking drinking and cancer is well established. In 1988, the World Health Organization\u2019s International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that alcohol is carcinogenic to humans. Research in the decades since has only strengthened the conclusion, including for breast, liver, colorectal and esophageal cancers. In November, the W.H.O. and the I.A.R.C. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/europe\/news\/item\/06-11-2023-joint-statement-by-who-europe-and-iarc-to-the-european-parliament---raising-awareness-of-the-link-between-alcohol-and-cancer#:~:text=There%20is%20also%20clear%20evidence,for%20cancers%20can%20be%20established.\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">declared in a joint statement<\/a>: \u201cNo safe amount of alcohol consumption for cancers can be established.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Despite this, the connection between alcohol and cancer isn\u2019t well known. In the United States, a recent <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/34654593\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">nationwide survey<\/a> found that about one in three Americans was aware that drinking increased the risk of cancer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Globally, only a quarter of countries require any kind of health warning on alcohol, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/32359059\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according to a recent study<\/a>, and the mandated language is generally imprecise. The United States last altered its warning labels <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1990\/02\/11\/us\/new-warning-label-is-due-for-alcohol-by-november-1990.html\" title=\"\">in 1989<\/a>, when it introduced language that discouraged drinking during pregnancy, or before driving or operating heavy machinery, and that vaguely acknowledged that alcohol \u201cmay cause health problems.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It took over a decade for Ireland\u2019s labeling requirement to become a reality, according to Sheila Gilheany,<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>chief executive of the advocacy organization Alcohol Action Ireland, who described it as \u201cthe most contested piece of legislation in Irish history.\u201d She said that the effort began in 2012, when a steering group assigned to address the country\u2019s high rate of alcohol-related deaths recommended a raft of measures, including warning labels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many of the recommendations were watered down by the time they became law in 2018, but the labeling requirement made it through unscathed. It took another four years for lawmakers to hammer out the specific wording and the design that would be required.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As those details were decided, alcohol companies stepped up their protests. In late 2022, a group of major alcohol-exporting European countries submitted formal objections to the European Commission, the European Union\u2019s executive branch, arguing that Ireland\u2019s labels impeded free trade and were not appropriate or proportionate to the objective of reducing alcohol\u2019s harms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When the commission raised no objection, Antonio Tajani, Italy\u2019s foreign minister, called the Irish proposal \u201can attack on the Mediterranean diet.\u201d The language in the labels \u201cdoesn\u2019t take into account the difference between moderate consumption and alcohol abuse,\u201d he <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Antonio_Tajani\/status\/1613526475470262273\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-2468f371\">Coordinated industry opposition<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Alcohol businesses are fighting on multiple fronts to keep the Irish labeling requirement from taking effect. At committee meetings of the World Trade Organization in June and November, trade groups and eleven alcohol-exporting countries, including the United States, expressed concerns, questioned the scientific validity of the cancer warning and argued that Ireland\u2019s labels would infringe on free trade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In comments submitted to the World Trade Organization, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States called the labels \u201cinaccurate\u201d and \u201cmisleading.\u201d The group also suggested that \u201cthis important public health objective would be best managed\u201d as part of a parallel effort to address cancer in the European Union, an area where the alcohol industry has proved to have greater influence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The European Commission was supposed to propose language for alcohol health warnings as part of the its <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/health.ec.europa.eu\/system\/files\/2022-02\/eu_cancer-plan_en_0.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Beating Cancer Plan<\/a> by the end of 2023 but failed to meet that deadline. In December, over <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euractiv.com\/section\/diabetes-cancer-hepatitis\/news\/who-lobbies-eu-lawmakers-over-watering-down-alcohol-cancer-risk\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">the objections of the World Health Organization<\/a>, the European Parliament approved a report that did not affirm the need for warning labels, instead calling for information on \u201cmoderate and responsible drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the final report, its authors repeatedly watered down language about alcohol\u2019s role in disease, narrowing warning only about \u201charmful\u201d or \u201cexcess\u201d<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>of consumption.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-57241c7f\">Size and design<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Cormac Healy, the director of Drinks Ireland, a trade group, said that his organization wasn\u2019t entirely utterly opposed to health warnings. But he said that the mandated size of the labels would be impractical for use on smaller products, picking a 50-milliliter bottle up from his desk to demonstrate. And the warning language itself was \u201cdisproportionate and inaccurate,\u201d he said, and primarily geared toward scaring people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cTo inform, to educate \u2014 you can\u2019t really do that on a label,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the United States, alcohol warning labels are typically on the back of the bottle or can, where they blend in with other graphic features. Dr. Marissa Hall, an assistant professor in the department of health behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that the labels would be more effective at catching a purchaser\u2019s eye if they were on the front, included an image or icon, and featured one of a rotating group of brief messages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Hall recently received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to test the impact of stronger design features. When she tells friends about her research, many are surprised to learn the United States requires warning labels at all, she said, because the existing ones so easily go unnoticed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey have no idea,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the last 15 years, a few countries have proposed stronger alcohol warning labels, but each has been met with fierce opposition, said Paula O\u2019Brien, a professor of law at the University of Melbourne. In 2010, Thailand proposed requiring a rotating group of warnings accompanied by graphic color imagery; O\u2019Brien called it \u201cthe high-water mark for alcohol labeling.\u201d But at the World Trade Organization, other countries raised concerns that the labels would restrain free trade, and the measure stalled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2016, South Korea overcame similar objections to mandate a group of warning labels, some of which link alcohol with cancer, that alcohol makers can choose from to put on their products.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even research on the topic has been contentious. In 2017, Yukon, a sparsely populated territory in northwest Canada, forged a partnership with scientists to introduce and test the impact of brightly colored warning labels, one of which included the phrase \u201calcohol can cause cancer.\u201d But after alcohol trade groups complained, the local government paused the study <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/01\/06\/world\/canada\/yukon-liquor-alcohol-warnings.html\" title=\"\">out of fear it would face a lawsuit<\/a> that it could not afford to fight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI was a bit surprised about the strength of the reaction,\u201d said Dr. Erin Hobin, a scientist at Public Health Ontario who led the project in Yukon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When the researchers resumed the study several months later, on the condition that the cancer warning be omitted, they found that people buying alcoholic beverages featuring the labels were still more likely to notice the messages, and reported reducing their drinking. Sales of products carrying the labels also <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jsad.com\/doi\/10.15288\/jsad.2020.81.225\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">fell by around 7 percent<\/a> during the intervention and several months that followed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Most importantly, Dr. Hobin said, as drinkers grew more informed about the link between alcohol and cancer, they also became <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7014334\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">more likely to support policies<\/a> for controlling alcohol availability, pricing and marketing, which have been shown to reduce drinking even more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If the alcohol industry dissuaded the European Union from adopting warning labels, it would keep Ireland isolated and out of harmony with European law. That<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>could ultimately form a basis for challenging the labeling requirement in Irish courts, said Dr. Ollie Bartlett, an assistant professor of law at Maynooth University in Ireland. But he said that such efforts were unlikely to prevail because Ireland\u2019s alcohol warning labels are \u201cproportionate to the objective of protecting public health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Observers say the European Union isn\u2019t likely to take any further action until after parliamentary elections this summer. And there\u2019s no indication that Ireland will retreat from its commitment to require the labels starting in May 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Gauden Galea, a strategic adviser at the World Health Organization, said he was confident that broader labeling efforts would eventually succeed. At 63, he\u2019s old enough to recall how cigarette companies once advertises on the front pages of newspapers, he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Eventually, he hopes, \u201cPeople will not remember the time when you needed a warning on pesticides, but could sell an unlabeled carcinogen like alcohol with impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/09\/health\/alcohol-cancer-warning.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fifteen words are roiling the global alcohol industry. Beginning in 2026, containers of beer, wine and liquor sold in Ireland will be required by law to bear a label in red capital letters with two warnings: \u201cTHERE IS A DIRECT LINK BETWEEN ALCOHOL AND FATAL CANCERS\u201d and \u201cDRINKING ALCOHOL CAUSES LIVER DISEASE.\u201d The requirement, signed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/09\/multimedia\/00SCI-ALCOHOL-LABELS-01-jflk\/00SCI-ALCOHOL-LABELS-01-jflk-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[27906,27907,281,12437,4246],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22461,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22459\/revisions\/22461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}