Author: Arriana McLymore
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Surgeon General’s warning about an increased risk of cancer due to alcohol consumption may end up resonating most with younger Americans – who have already turned to mocktails and juices instead of alcoholic beverages in recent years.
It’s unclear whether Congress will accept Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s proposal to update warning labels about alcohol’s risks, but over the past decade, the youngest adults have been drinking less.
Brooklyn resident Amy Hudson (NYSE: ), 35, said she cut back on drinking alcohol from several times a week to less than three times a month after she began experiencing chronic migraines in 2021.
“I’ve found that mocktails are a good way to get antioxidants while incorporating anti-inflammatory foods into my diet,” Hudson said. Ingredients like pineapple, sour cherry juice and ginger helped her fight migraines, she said.
In 2023, 49.6% of Americans aged 18 to 25 had consumed alcohol in the past month, according to the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, down from 59.6% in 2013.
Sean Goldsmith, chief executive of soft drinks e-commerce platform The Zero Proof, said the Surgeon General’s announcement comes as “more and more people realize that drinking alcohol is not good for you”.
It is in one of the busiest seasons of the year – “dry January”, the month in which some people choose to abstain from alcohol after the holidays.
About 90% of The Zero Proof’s customers are alcoholics looking for healthier drinks, Goldsmith said. More than 60% of its customers are women, and the majority are millennials between the ages of 28 and 43.
Public health bodies such as the World Health Organization are increasingly turning their attention to alcohol after making progress in tightening tobacco control.
American Medical (TASE:) In a statement from Friday, the association pointed out that for years it has been warning about the increased risk of cancer from any alcohol consumption. “Despite decades of compelling evidence of this link, too many people in the public remain unaware of the risks of alcohol,” it said.
Sara Martin, a 42-year-old saleswoman from Los Angeles, doesn’t participate in Dry January, but said mocktails are a great option for business parties. “I’m in an industry that drinks more than I can keep up with,” she said.
She’s glad younger people in her industry are “getting behind the culture of mandatory drinking,” but she doesn’t think cancer risk labeling alone will reduce alcohol consumption.
“It took extensive public awareness campaigns to firmly link cigarettes and lung cancer in people’s minds,” Martin said. “But labels would be the first step.”
