Restaurant industry pushes back against new link between cancer and alcohol consumptionRestaurant industry pushes back against new link between cancer and alcohol consumption

As one of his final acts under the Biden presidential administration, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a new warning on Jan. 5 that linked alcohol consumption with increased cancer risk and called for cancer warnings on bottles of alcohol. 

Dovetailing Murthy’s call for cancer warnings on alcohol, a new report from the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) was released, with findings that argue the consumption of six to nine drinks per week (considered within moderate drinking range according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans), increases the risk of cancer and alcohol-related death.

In his Jan. 5 announcement, Murthy called alcohol consumption, “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.” 

The restaurant industry, among other food and beverage-related industries, has pushed back against this new study and alleged link between cancer and alcohol consumption, calling the report from ICCPUD, “tainted by bias and conflicts.” 

The National Restaurant Association is one of several food and beverage service organizations, including the Independent Restaurant Coalition, American Beverage Licensees, and Wine Institute, who signed a statement protesting these new findings. 

The signed statement argues that there is “clear evidence of bias and conflicts of interest in those tasked with conducting the research, including ties to international temperance organizations and anti-alcohol advocacy efforts.”

Last month, another report was released on links between alcohol consumption and health risks from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health. This report concluded that “moderate alcohol consumption” is associated with lower risks of “all-cause mortality and cardiovascular diseases.”

The U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Public Health Consumption and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will host a period of public comment this month, during which members of the public can submit feedback on these studies. Both the studies’ findings will be utilized and considered when creating the next edition of “Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”