Alcohol And Cancer: What The Drinks Industry Doesn’t Want You To Know!
Alcohol and cancer, no longer a speculation but now an undeniable reality. However, I will be honest – back when I was a big drinker, I did not want to stop drinking because I was worried about alcohol and cancer.
I quit drinking alcohol because it had turned me into a fat, lazy zombie. Booze had stolen my money, my marriage, and my energy. I wanted this poison out of my life.
Of course, I was scared of the damage I was doing to my liver but I never lost sleep about the connection between alcohol and cancer.
The Strangely Different View of Cigarettes
Cigarette packets have long since featured graphic warning labels about the risk of cancers. However, the most the drinks manufacturers have ever done is to plaster a meaningless ‘Drink Responsibly‘ tag somewhere near the barcode.
This is meaningless because people who are addicted to alcohol can’t drink responsibly, so they know it won’t make the slightest impact on their profits.
The hard reality is, alcohol has been to be proven responsible for at least seven fatal types of cancer. Including cancer of the mouth and throat.
Why Don’t Bottles Have Warnings Of Alcohol And Cancer?
It’s a good question and Canada might be about to lead the way in this regard. Yukon is being set up as a screening area for several brand-new kinds of labels on alcohol containers.
Forget ‘Drink Responsibly’ these big stickers warn directly of the cancer risks linked with drinking and aim to promote better habits.
A couple of distinct labels were revealed at a major Canadian Liquor Outlet on Wednesday. These warning tags will be attached to all wine & spirit bottles and beer cans sold in the territory over the next nine months, as part of an evolving Wellness Canada research project.
A Golden Opportunity
“We have the opportunity to be a forerunner in Canada, as well as throughout the world. To illustrate the potential advantages of labelling containers,” said Brendan Hanley, the territory’s primary clinical officer of health.
Dr Hanley claims Northern Canada has the tendency to have bigger rates of alcohol consumption, including by young people and teens. This is compared to the majority of Canada. Yukon also has fairly high figures of alcohol-related violence.
Half-hearted Warnings
Just like the USA and UK, half-hearted warning labels have been utilized on alcohol bottle for many years. However, these have been mainly used to caution against the risks of drinking while expecting a baby. The Northern Canada test labels are unique in pointing to tumors and carcinoma as yet another danger of an alcohol use disorder.
“Alcohol can cause cancer including breast and colon cancers,” the graphic warning of one of the labels.
Another sticker focuses on healthy routines, trying to dissuade people from consuming alcohol in a greater amount than two or three standard alcoholic beverages per day. They also motivate people to “plan two or more non-drinking days every week.”.
The labels are being introduced as part of a Wellness Canada research strategy. The experiment is focused on alcohol use only in Northern Canada at the moment.
The Truth About Alcohol And Cancer!
The warning labels are relatively bigger in dimension than anything that has gone before. This is to make them quickly recognized and easy to read. Forget black and white, they are full color with a vivid yellow background and crimson boundary. They are designed so that they attract attention, and they cannot be overlooked.
About Time!
Apparently, when liquor store customers were surveyed last springtime in Northern Canada, as a component of the project. People were asked if they wanted more warning labels on alcohol brands.
Most alcoholics lie about their addiction so honesty was not totally expected in the results. However, Surprisingly they said yes. That’s consistent with research across right across Canada.
Information is Power
“People want more information about alcohol, on wine bottles”, said Erin Hobin, the project’s lead researcher.
Researchers will attempt to evaluate whether the labels have an effect on customer perspectives and behaviors in the country. Next springtime, they’ll once again survey off-license users and review any new findings to collect and compare the information with the previous spring season.
The analysts can also compare study and revenues details from Northern Canada with similar information from the country as a whole, where the stickers are not being implemented yet.
Affecting habits.
The analysts are not fooling themselves. They are realistic about the outcome and don’t expect alcohol warning stamps to suddenly stop people from drinking alcohol altogether.
That isn’t the aim! The real objective is to just affect consumers’ attitudes and habits in the “wider sense,” and make the cancer warning stickers a part of a larger social wellness strategy.
- Do stickers increase awareness and awareness of the health risks of drinking alcohol?
- Will warning labels enhance people’s plans to perhaps re-think their drinking, or lower their alcohol intake?
- Do they make people consider the risks of alcohol and cancer?
Take Action Today
All this remains to be seen. For the moment we say huge congratulations to Canada and hope the results of this experiment lead to big changes in attitudes around the world.
If you are ready to kick this attractively packaged poison out of your life. Click here for more information on the Stop Drinking Expert program.
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