Alcohol packaging warning messages

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A warning label applied to alcohol containers in the Yukon, Canada (see Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study) Intervention alcohol warning label, Cancer warning 5.0 cm x 3.2 cm.png
A warning label applied to alcohol containers in the Yukon, Canada (see Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study)

Alcohol packaging warning messages (alcohol warning labels, AWLs [1] ) are warning messages that appear on the packaging of alcoholic drinks concerning their health effects. They have been implemented in an effort to enhance the public's awareness of the harmful effects of consuming alcoholic beverages, especially with respect to foetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol's carcinogenic properties. [2] In general, warnings used in different countries try to emphasize the same messages (see By country). Such warnings have been required in alcohol advertising for many years, although the content of the warnings differ by nation.

Contents

A World Health Organization report, published in 2017, stated: [3]

Alcohol product labelling could be considered as a component of a comprehensive public health strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm. Adding health labels to alcohol containers is an important first step in raising awareness and has a longer-term utility in helping to establish a social understanding of the harmful use of alcohol.

A 2014 study in BMC Public Health concluded that "Cancer warning statements on alcoholic beverages constitute a potential means of increasing awareness about the relationship between alcohol consumption and cancer risk." [4]

In many countries, alcoholic beverage packages are not required to have the information about energy and nutritional content required of all other foods and drinks, as of 2018. [5]

History

Increasing calls for the introduction of warning labels on alcoholic beverages have occurred after tobacco packaging warning messages proved successful. [4] The addition of warning labels on alcoholic beverages is historically supported by organizations of the temperance movement, such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, as well as by medical organisations, such as the Irish Cancer Society. [6] [7] The impetus to add alcohol packaging warning messages to containers of alcoholic beverages "reflect[s] a growing evidence base relating to the relationship between alcohol consumption and a range of health problems including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, overweight and obesity, liver disease, fetal abnormalities, cognitive impairment, mental health problems, and accidental injury". [4] Even light and moderate alcohol consumption increases cancer risk in individuals. [8] [9] As of 2014, alcohol warning labels are required in many countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. [4] Modern alcohol advertising promotes alcoholic beverages heavily "as though it was not a toxic substance". [4] The alcohol industry has tried to actively mislead the public about the risk of cancer due to alcohol consumption, [10] in addition to campaigning to remove laws that require alcoholic beverages to have cancer warning labels. [11]

Cancer warnings

The World Health Organization declared alcohol a Class I carcinogen in 1990. Despite unequivocal scientific evidence, as of 2020, only South Korea had AWLs that warned of the link. The alcohol industry has lobbied hard against any measure that could lead to greater public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer. These include preventing, delaying, and weakening AWL legislation. [12]

Lobbying methods

Alcohol producers object strongly to warning labels saying that alcohol causes cancer. They object more to warnings that are more graphic and those which are required to be in a prominent position on the bottle; given the choice, they hide the warnings as inconspicuously as possible. Lobbyists generally do not object to legislation requiring warnings about drunk driving, underage drinking, or fetal alcohol syndrome. [5]

Industry has sometimes argued that integrating warnings into the main label is too expensive, and should be banned. They prefer supplementary stick-on labels, with placement to be chosen by manufacturers, so that it does not interfere with the main label or detract from it. They then choose the most inconspicuous placement. Governments have opposed this. [5]

Countermeasures in trade agreements

The alcohol industry has also taken to using international trade and investment law to slow the implementation of warning labels, introducing provisions into international agreements that forbid some types of warning labels. This allows them to threaten litigation under these international agreements, creating chilling effects. Even if their cases are thrown out, litigating in national, international, and supernational forums delays action and makes it much more expensive. In 2010, Thai legislation requiring alcohol warning labels was blocked in the World Trade Organization (WTO): alcohol-exporting countries, including Australia, the European Union, New Zealand and the United States, argued that a label mandate was a "technical barrier to trade". Since then, there has been similar WTO opposition to warning labels proposed by Kenya, India, Ireland, Israel, Korea, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey. [5] [12]

These tactics have previously been used by the tobbacco industry to oppose tobbacco warning labels and plain packaging requirements. The tobacco industry has lost some lawsuits, but Australia had to fight litigation to the highest Australian court, and before the World Trade Organization, and before an international tribunal. Uruguay, facing litigation from companies richer than it is, was only able to fight industry lawsuits and persist with its warning labelling legistaion by using charitable funding from the Bloomberg Foundation. A lawsuit blocked the introduction of graphic warning labels in the US in 2013, following a ruling from the Court of Appeals for the DC circuit. [5] As of 2023, the US still has only the small black-and-white plain-text warnings mandated by the 1988 Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act. These do not reflect medical research done since 1988.

By country

Australia

In Australia, "Alcohol beverage makers must label their products with warning labels relating to the risks of drinking during pregnancy", as of 2019 [13]

Canada

In 2017, "Alcohol can cause cancer" warning labels were added to alcoholic products at a liquor store in Yellowknife, next to existing federally-mandated 1991 warnings (about drinking while pregnant, or driving drunk). The labels were added as part of the Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study, planned to run for eight months. Alcohol industry lobbyists stopped the study after only a few weeks, threatening to sue the Yukon government. Spirits Canada, Beer Canada and the Canadian Vintners Association alleged that the Yukon government had no legislative authority to add the labels, and would be liable for defamation, damages for lost sales, and packaging trademark and copyright infringement, because the labels had been added without their consent. [14] [15]

India

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) requires alcoholic beverages to have a label with the following text: “Consumption of alcohol is injurious to health”. [16]

Ireland

Backed by the Irish Cancer Society, the government of Ireland will place warning labels on alcoholic beverages, with regard to alcohol's carcinogenic properties. [7] [17] The policy should enter into force on May 22, 2026. [18]

Thailand

Alcoholic beverages may not be advertised in a manner which directly or indirectly claims benefits or promotes its consumption, and may not show the product or its packaging. [19] All advertisements must also be accompanied by one out of five predefined warning messages, lasting at least two seconds for video advertisements or occupying at least 25 percent of the advertisement area for print media. [20]

United States

Since 1989, in the United States, warning labels on alcoholic beverages are currently required to warn "of the risks of drinking and driving, operating machinery, drinking while pregnant, and other general health risks." [21]

As of 2014, the current alcoholic warning message reads as follows: [4]

GOVERNMENT WARNING:
(1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcohol beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.
(2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems.

In 2025, the Surgeon General of the United States Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy called for updates to alcohol warning labels on alcoholic beverages, with the advisory noting “Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States.” [22] The updates specifically concern the cancer risk associated with alcohol consumption. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

The long-term effects of alcohol have been extensively researched. The health effects of long-term alcohol consumption vary depending on the amount consumed. Even light drinking poses health risks, but atypically small amounts of alcohol may have health benefits. Alcoholism causes severe health consequences which outweigh any potential benefits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol advertising</span> Promotion of alcoholic beverages

Alcohol advertising is the promotion of alcoholic beverages by alcohol producers through a variety of media. Along with nicotine advertising, alcohol advertising is one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing. Some or all forms of alcohol advertising are banned in some countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol Justice</span> Research and policy organization

Alcohol Justice is a San Rafael, California-based non-profit advocacy, research and policy organization describing itself as "the industry watchdog." The Marin Institute was renamed and re-branded as Alcohol Justice in 2011; it was originally named The Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol and cancer</span> Relationship between cancer and the consumption of alcohol

Alcohol and cancer have a complex relationship. Alcohol causes cancers of the oesophagus, liver, breast, colon, oral cavity, rectum, pharynx, and larynx, and probably causes cancers of the pancreas. Cancer risk can occur even with light to moderate drinking. The more alcohol is consumed, the higher the cancer risk, and no amount can be considered completely safe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael F. Jacobson</span> American biologist

Michael F. Jacobson is an American scientist and nutrition advocate. He holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Alcohol has a number of effects on health. Short-term effects of alcohol consumption include intoxication and dehydration. Long-term effects of alcohol include changes in the metabolism of the liver and brain, with increased risk of several types of cancer and alcohol use disorder. Alcohol intoxication affects the brain, causing slurred speech, clumsiness, and delayed reflexes. There is an increased risk of developing an alcohol use disorder for teenagers while their brain is still developing. Adolescents who drink have a higher probability of injury including death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act</span> American law

The Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act (ABLA) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100–690, 102 Stat. 4181, enacted November 18, 1988, H.R. 5210, is a United States federal law requiring that the labels of alcoholic beverages carry an alcohol warning label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcoholic beverage</span> Drink with a substantial ethanol content

Drinks containing alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered non-alcoholic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol and breast cancer</span>

The relationship between alcohol and breast cancer is clear: drinking alcoholic beverages, including wine, beer, or liquor, is a risk factor for breast cancer, as well as some other forms of cancer. Drinking alcohol causes more than 100,000 cases of breast cancer worldwide every year. Globally, almost one in 10 cases of breast cancer is caused by women drinking alcoholic beverages. Drinking alcoholic beverages is among the most common modifiable risk factors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol law</span> Law pertaining to alcoholic beverages

Alcohol laws are laws relating to manufacture, use, as being under the influence of and sale of alcohol or alcoholic beverages. Common alcoholic beverages include beer, wine, (hard) cider, and distilled spirits. Definition of alcoholic beverage varies internationally, e.g., the United States defines an alcoholic beverage as "any beverage in liquid form which contains not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume". Alcohol laws can restrict those who can produce alcohol, those who can buy it, when one can buy it, labelling and advertising, the types of alcoholic beverage that can be sold, where one can consume it, what activities are prohibited while intoxicated, and where one can buy it. In some cases, laws have even prohibited the use and sale of alcohol entirely.

The alcohol industry, also known as Big Alcohol, is the segment of the commercial drink industry that is involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The industry has been criticised in the 1990s for deflecting attention away from the problems associated with alcohol use. The alcohol industry has also been criticised for being unhelpful in reducing the harm of alcohol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ban on caffeinated alcoholic drinks in the United States</span>

On November 17, 2010, the United States FDA introduced a ban on caffeinated alcoholic drinks, preventing the marketing and distribution of any prepackaged caffeinated alcoholic drink.

Many college campuses throughout the United States have some form of alcohol advertising including flyers on bulletin boards to mini billboard signs on college buses. It is so prevalent on college campuses especially because college students are considered the "targeted marketing group," meaning that college students are more likely to consume larger qualities of alcohol than any other age group, which makes them the prime consumers of alcohol in the United States.

Alcohol laws of Turkey regulate the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol (drug)</span> Active ingredient in fermented drinks

Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is the second most consumed psychoactive drug globally behind caffeine. Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, decreasing electrical activity of neurons in the brain. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies alcohol as a toxic, psychoactive, dependence-producing, and carcinogenic substance.

The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 is an Act of the Oireachtas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study</span> 2017–2018 health research in Yukon, Canada

The Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study was a scientific experiment in Canada on the effects of alcohol warning labels. It was terminated after lobbying from the alcohol industry, and later relaunched with industry-advocated experimental design changes: omitting the "Alcohol can cause cancer" label, not labelling some alcohol products, and shortening the time period. Enough data was gathered to show that all of the labels used in the study were simple, cheap, and effective, and it recommended that they should be required worldwide.

Alcohol in Thailand refers to the alcohol industry, alcohol consumption and laws related to alcohol in Thailand. In 2023, 5.73 million people demonstrated signs of alcoholism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol and society</span>

Alcohol and society are closely intertwined, as it is widely consumed and legally permitted in most countries around the globe, despite its potential to lead to various issues. According to a 2024 World Health Organization (WHO) report, these harmful consequences of alcohol use result in 2.6 million deaths annually, accounting for 4.7% of all global deaths.

This page is a list of terms related to the psychoactive drug alcohol.

References

  1. ↑ Zhao, Jinhui; Stockwell, Tim; Vallance, Kate; Hobin, Erin (March 2020). "The Effects of Alcohol Warning Labels on Population Alcohol Consumption: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis of Alcohol Sales in Yukon, Canada". Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 81 (2): 225–237. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2020.81.225 . PMID   32359054. S2CID   218481829.
  2. ↑ Wayne, O'Connor (27 September 2018). "Alcohol label 'will help prevent cancer' - Harris". Irish Independent .
  3. ↑ "Alcohol labelling: A discussion document on policy options" (PDF). World Health Organization.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pettigrew, Simone; Jongenelis, Michelle; Chikritzhs, Tanya; Slevin, Terry; Pratt, Iain S; Glance, David; Liang, Wenbin (3 August 2014). "Developing cancer warning statements for alcoholic beverages". BMC Public Health. 14 (1): 786. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-786 . PMC   4133604 . PMID   25087010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 O’Brien, Paula; Gleeson, Deborah; Room, Robin; Wilkinson, Claire (1 May 2018). "Commentary on 'Communicating Messages About Drinking': Using the 'Big Legal Guns' to Block Alcohol Health Warning Labels". Alcohol and Alcoholism. 53 (3): 333–336. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agx124 . PMID   29346576.
  6. ↑ Chandler, Ellen (2012). "FASD - Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder". White Ribbon Signal. 117 (2): 2.
  7. 1 2 Finn, Christina. "Irish Cancer Society urges minister not to drop proposed cancer warning labels on alcohol products". TheJournal.ie .
  8. ↑ Cheryl Platzman Weinstock (8 November 2017). "Alcohol Consumption Increases Risk of Breast and Other Cancers, Doctors Say". Scientific American . Retrieved 13 November 2018. The ASCO statement, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, cautions that while the greatest risks are seen with heavy long-term use, even low alcohol consumption (defined as less than one drink per day) or moderate consumption (up to two drinks per day for men, and one drink per day for women because they absorb and metabolize it differently) can increase cancer risk. Among women, light drinkers have a four percent increased risk of breast cancer, while moderate drinkers have a 23 percent increased risk of the disease.
  9. ↑ Noelle K. LoConte; Abenaa M. Brewster; Judith S. Kaur; Janette K. Merrill & Anthony J. Alberg (7 November 2017). "Alcohol and Cancer: A Statement of the American Society of Clinical Oncology". Journal of Clinical Oncology . 36 (1). Clearly, the greatest cancer risks are concentrated in the heavy and moderate drinker categories. Nevertheless, some cancer risk persists even at low levels of consumption. A meta-analysis that focused solely on cancer risks associated with drinking one drink or fewer per day observed that this level of alcohol consumption was still associated with some elevated risk for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (sRR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.56), oropharyngeal cancer (sRR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.29), and breast cancer (sRR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.08), but no discernable associations were seen for cancers of the colorectum, larynx, and liver.
  10. ↑ Petticrew M, Maani Hessari N, Knai C, Weiderpass E, et al. (2018). "How alcohol industry organisations mislead the public about alcohol and cancer" (PDF). Drug and Alcohol Review. 37 (3): 293–303. doi:10.1111/dar.12596. PMID   28881410. S2CID   892691.
  11. ↑ Chaudhuri, Saabira (9 February 2018). "Lawmakers, Alcohol Industry Tussle Over Cancer Labels on Booze". The Wall Street Journal .
  12. 1 2 Stockwell, Tim; Solomon, Robert; O’Brien, Paula; Vallance, Kate; Hobin, Erin (March 2020). "Cancer Warning Labels on Alcohol Containers: A Consumer's Right to Know, a Government's Responsibility to Inform, and an Industry's Power to Thwart". Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 81 (2): 284–292. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2020.81.284 . PMID   32359059. S2CID   218481696.
  13. ↑ "Mandatory warning labels to be introduced on alcohol". Food & Drink Business. 15 October 2018.
  14. ↑ Windeyer, Chris (9 May 2020). "Booze industry brouhaha over Yukon warning labels backfired, study suggests". CBC News. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Liquor industry calls halt to cancer warning labels on Yukon booze". CBC News. 28 December 2017.
  16. ↑ "Alcohol bottles to carry health warnings from April 1" (PDF). Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  17. ↑ "Cancer warning labels to be included on alcohol in Ireland, minister confirms". Belfast Telegraph . 26 September 2018.
  18. ↑ Carrol, Rory (2023-05-22). "Ireland to introduce world-first alcohol health labelling policy". The Guardian .
  19. ↑ "Alcohol Control Act B.E. 2551 (2008)" (PDF). The Office of Alcohol Control Committee, Government of Thailand. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  20. ↑ คลอดแล้ว 5 คำเตือนขวดเหล้า. Thai Rath (in Thai). 8 June 2010.
  21. ↑ Boyle, Peter; Boffetta, Paolo; Lowenfels, Albert B.; Burns, Harry; Brawley, Otis (2013). Alcohol: Science, Policy and Public Health. Oxford University Press. p. 391. ISBN   9780199655786.
  22. ↑ Langford, Edith (17 January 2025). "I've watched alcohol-related cancers kill my family. Surgeon general is right". USA Today . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  23. ↑ "U.S. Surgeon General Issues New Advisory on Link Between Alcohol and Cancer Risk". United States Department of Health and Human Services. 3 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
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