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With festive season in full swing, many Australians are taking advantage of the summer holidays.
"I know that I like to have my glass of red and sometimes it's more than one."
"It's poison. Alcohol is poison. But we keep on poisoning ourselves and enjoying it."
According to South Australia Health, around one third of Australians are estimated to drink weekly.
Julia Stafford is on the Cancer Council Nutrition, Alcohol and Physical Activity Committee.
She says around 80 per cent of Australians drink alcohol at some level, within a year on average.
"A lot of Australians are using alcohol. You know, it may be at very low levels, some at much higher levels and but really, all use of alcohol can contribute to your cancer risk. The more you drink, the higher your risk. But really, when it comes to alcohol and cancer, there is no safe level of alcohol use. So I think that's a really important message to to be for Australia to be building in terms of health warning labels and broader education campaigns."
Ms Stafford says warning labels would serve to inform those who drink of the risks that come with consuming alcohol.
"The basic principle with health warning labels on products is that people have a right to know, have a right to be aware about the risks of products so that they can consider that within their decisions to use a product or not use a product, or how much of that product they use. So really, it's about empowering the community to be aware. Because currently we know that, you know, roughly one in two Australians are aware that alcohol is a cause of cancer in some way."
The US Surgeon General has issued a new advisory on the causal link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk, calling for US Congress to authorise an update to the Surgeon General’s warning label on alcohol-containing beverages to include a cancer risk warning.
According to the advisory, consuming any type of alcohol – beer, wine, or spirits – increases the risk for at least seven types of cancer, including mouth, throat, voice box, oesophagus, breast, liver, colon and rectal.
Ms Stafford says a similar advisory should be issued in Australia.
"The momentum internationally has been building with this US Surgeon General's advice and with Ireland introducing cancer warning labels on alcoholic products from 2026, talking about alcohol as a cause of fatal cancers. I think a lot of countries around the world are looking at that, at the very clear advice around the link between alcohol and cancer, and understanding the need to inform the community because Australians have a right to know if the products they are using can cause them harm."
According to Cancer Australia, 5.6 per cent of cancer cases are linked to long-term alcohol use.
As a Group One carcinogen, alcohol can break down chemical compounds in the body and damage DNA, proteins and cell as well as alter hormone levels and lead to greater absorption of other carcinogens.
While experts say there's a strong case for warnings, it's up to the consumer to heed them.
"I don't want to get cancer from drinking alcohol and having fun. Like if they did that in Australia that would suck. "
"I don't think warning labels would make much of a difference. I think people are pretty self aware these days about the risks."
"It makes no difference to me, it's on cigarettes. Why can't it be on alcohol?"
Introducing warning labels in the US will require rare approval from US Congress.
Ireland is already taking steps to introducing warnings on alcoholic products and will be the first country to do so from 2026.
