NEWS
ASIAN ALCOHOL SHARES DIPPED ON CALLS FOR CANCER WARNING IN USA
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
6-1-2025
Credit: Christine Jou/Unsplash
Shares of Asian liquor and beer makers declined after the Surgeon General of USA outlined a direct link between alcohol consumption and heightened cancer risk, and called for warning labels on packaging.
Sapporo Holdings shares dropped as much as 5.1 percent in Tokyo on Monday, the most in five months.
China’s Wuliangye Yibin fell as much as 3.7 percent, while Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Ltd slid 2.6 percent in Hong Kong and Treasury Wine Estates dipped 2.7 percent in Australia.
“The market will adopt a ‘shoot first ask questions next’ approach to the risk of potential health warning labels on alcoholic drinks and cancer risk in the USA,” Bloomberg news agency quoted Edward Mundy, an analyst at Jefferies Financial Group, as writing in a note.
Surgeon General of USA, Vivek Murthy, said Friday in an advisory that despite a growing pile of evidence, less than half of Americans recognise that drinking raises their chances of developing several cancers.
He called for mandatory cancer risk warning labels on alcoholic drinks sold in the USA.
Adding a warning would highlight concerns for products that more than 70 percent of US adults consume at least once a week, with some USD260 billion in 2022 nationwide sales.
“Many now believe alcohol warnings labels and marketing regulations of brands will get much tighter and go the same way as tobacco did 30 years ago,” Bloomberg quoted Asymmetric Advisors’ Amir Anvarzadeh as commenting.
Ireland is the first country in the world to have decided on mandatory cancer warning on alcoholic drink labels.
From 2026, it will be mandatory for the packaging on alcoholic beverages sold in Ireland to display information including calorie content, risks of cancer and liver disease and the dangers of drinking during pregnancy.
They will also have to direct consumers to the Irish Health Service Executive website for more information on alcohol consumption.
The European Commission has signed off the plan and Ireland’s decision has prompted many public heath professionals to push for the entire European Union to follow suit.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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