Changing alcohol labels could take 'decades': Dr. Marion Nestle

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Friday proposed labeling alcohol as a leading cause of cancer.

In a new Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol and Cancer Risk, Murthy outlined how alcohol contributed to at least seven types of cancer, including breast and mouth cancer.

He noted that alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., after tobacco and obesity, but many Americans remain unaware of the connection.

Alcohol use is linked to about 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the U.S., with the risk rising as alcohol consumption increases, America’s top doctor warned.

It's a move that Dr. Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, called "absolutely unambiguous."

"[Murthy says] alcohol causes cancer, seven different types. No mays, no mights, no 'the evidence suggests.' Alcohol causes cancer — period, full stop," the molecular biologist and author explained.

That surety, Nestle said, comes just a week after the National Academies of Sciences came out with a report that said there's only "low-quality evidence" that alcohol is linked to cancer.

"So, we're in a situation now where two major authorities have come out with very different advice, and a third report is still expected very soon," Nestle said.

Nestle has served on the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. She said the advice discrepancies are likely the result of "which studies they're looking at, which ones are excluded, and how the various committees are interpreting the evidence."

"Like all nutrition research, this is complicated," she added.

Current alcohol labels, created in 1988, warn about dangers like drinking while pregnant or operating machinery. Murthy emphasized the need for updates to reflect modern research.

Nestle said it will take years, if not decades, for any changes to hit the shelves.

"The FDA moves at what used to be glacial speed before global warming," Nestle said. "These are very hard to do, and they require a lot of public input. And the minute you get into public input, you get the alcohol industry involved."

The restaurant, hospitality and entertainment industry, among many others, profit off selling alcohol, Nestle said. And that's when "enormous" political pressures come into play, complicating the process altogether.

Congress will ultimately decide whether to revise the labels. The next round of dietary guidelines for Americans is set to be released in 2026.

NewsNation's Taylor Delandro contributed to this report.