The World Health Organization published new findings on Friday about a “alarming” lack of awareness about the bond of alcohol with cancer throughout Europe and requested clear and prominent warnings of tobacco style in the region with the heaviest drinkers of the world.
The Global Health Agency has repeatedly warned that alcohol causes cancer and has supported the clear labeling, but had never been so prescriptive before in its call to new government regulations.
Earlier this year, the United States general surgeon also requested cancer risk warnings in alcoholic beverage labels.
Alcohol causes 800,000 deaths in Europe every year, but only a fraction of the population is aware of the risks, said the WHO Europe. His study found that only 15 percent of respondents knew that alcohol can cause breast cancer and 39 percent were aware of their link with colon cancer.
“Although cancer is the main cause of alcohol attributable deaths in the European Union (EU), public awareness about the link between alcohol and cancer is still alarmingly low,” said WHO.
Trusting self -regulation, as the industry would prefer, runs the risk that alcohol producers use “discrete placement and ambiguous messages” or use QR codes that tend to be ignored by buyers, he said.
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On the other hand, alcoholic beverages must show “clear and prominent health warnings” in written format that could be combined with images “to maximize scope and train consumers with clear and precise information to make informed decisions about their health,” he said.
Pictograms and simple messages only of text can be as effective as the most graphic photographs, a spokesman said when asked about the types of warnings.
Currently, only three from 27 EU countries, France, Lithuania and Germany have some form of warning, WHO said. Ireland plans broader cancer warnings on alcoholic beverages of May 2026, he said.
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