WASHINGTON — Alcohol products like beer and wine should carry warnings of their links to cancer, the US surgeon general said, citing an increased risk of developing tumors in the breast and other parts of the body.

Scientific evidence of the connections between alcohol and cancer has been rising for decades, but less than half of Americans recognize the danger, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in an advisory Friday.

Alcohol causes about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 related deaths each year in the US, Murthy said, far more than the 13,500 alcohol-associated fatalities from traffic crashes. Direct links have been shown between alcohol and at least seven types of cancer, he said, including those of the throat, mouth, esophagus, voice box, colon and liver, and more than 16% of breast cancers.

Alcohol’s links to cancer have been known since the 1980s, and the substance is ranked as the third-leading preventable cause of the disease, after tobacco and obesity. More than 70% of Americans report having at least one drink a week, according to the statement.

The American Medical Association said the advisory and updating the label on alcohol “will bolster awareness, improve health, and save lives.”

“For years, the AMA has said that alcohol consumption at any level, not just heavy alcohol use or addictive alcohol use, is a modifiable risk factor for cancer,” Bruce Scott, president of the AMA, said in a statement.

The issue is a global one, with about 741,300 cases of cancer attributable to alcohol consumption worldwide in 2020. Yet in a 2019 survey, just 45% of Americans were aware of the risk posed by alcohol, compared with about 90% awareness for radiation exposure and tobacco each, the statement said.

Guidelines for alcohol consumption should be reassessed to account for their links to cancer, and doctors should highlight the danger when advising patients about drinking, the document said.

Of the 47 World Health Organization member countries with alcohol warning labels, only South Korea requires a cancer warning. Ireland will require a cancer warning starting in 2026.

Shares of drinks makers declined on Friday, following the surgeon general’s announcement. Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the maker of Budweiser beer, fell 2.8% in Brussels. Constellation Brands Inc. was down 1% in Friday trading in New York and Molson Coors Beverage Co. lost 2.7%.

While drinking alcohol has long been a social norm for American adults, sobriety has also gained popularity in recent years. In 2020, Anheuser-Busch InBev released Budweiser Zero; last year, Molson Coors released its non-alcoholic brand Naked Life in the US. Craft breweries like Sierra Nevada and Samuel Adams also offer alcohol-free beers. Younger Americans are even more likely than older ones to try to cut back on drinking alcohol, a January 2024 survey from NCSolutions found.

Representatives for AB InBev, French distiller Pernod Ricard, and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE’s wines and spirits unit declined to comment. Diageo Plc and Heineken didn’t respond to requests for comment. LVMH owns labels such as Moët & Chandon and Dom Perignon Champagne as well as Hennessy Cognac. Diageo is the maker of Smirnoff vodka and Don Julio tequila. Pernod Ricard brands include Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey.

Trade groups have yet to weigh in on the announcement. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States said it was still reviewing the advisory. WineAmerica, the National Association of American Wineries, declined to comment. The Beer Institute didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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(With assistance from Angelina Rascouet, Dasha Afanasieva and Andy Hoffman.)

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