Neil Glausier is co-owner and brewmaster at Burghers Brewing Company in Pittsburgh. But as a small business owner, he’s also just another guy in the trenches — working the production line, delivering beer, and keeping the books in order.
And when faced with the prospect of updating the warning label currently displayed on every can of beer he sells, a move that he says could cost his brewery “tens of thousands” of dollars, Glausier doesn’t mince words.
“There is no really good way to explain that it's a waste of money for what I think amounts to a political feelgood statement,” Glausier said.
The U.S. Surgeon General recently released an advisory highlighting the link between alcohol consumption and some common forms of cancer. The advisory points out that some 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths occur every year, a number that surpasses the 13,500 deaths that occur annually as a result of drinking and driving. It recommends that current labels posted on alcoholic beverages be more prominent and include language that warns consumers about cancer risks associated with drinking alcohol.
Dr. Jessica Merlin, a physician and a Ph.D.-trained behavioral scientist who works at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, acknowledges that there are harmful health effects associated with drinking alcohol, which include cancer. She also concedes that “mass media messages,” such as warning labels on alcoholic beverages and packs of cigarettes, reach a wide audience. She believes, too, though, that changing people’s behavior is “a lot more complicated than a warning label.”
“I think the question I would want to ask the Surgeon General, and just sort of ask ourselves as a society, is, ‘What is the behavior change that we're after here?’” Merlin said. “Because I think: ‘What is the right amount of alcohol consumption for an individual?’ I think that's a question that is between an individual and themselves, their family, their doctor or nurse or whoever they seek primary care from. I think that's an important discussion to have. And that can lead to thoughts about, you know, behavior change and then things that can actually support behavior change if behavior change is the goal.”
According to the Surgeon General’s Advisory, alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., behind tobacco and obesity. Alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing at least seven types of cancer: mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, breast, liver, colon and rectum.
Less than half of Americans are aware that alcohol consumption increases their risk of cancer. This lack of awareness, according to the Surgeon General, is a public health issue worth addressing through several means, including updating the current warning label on alcoholic beverages.
For Glausier though, it’s a financial issue: Labels cost money. A retainer for a marketing company costs money. His time, and the time of his employees, costs money. And for an industry that, he says, still hasn’t “recovered from Covid-type numbers,” every dollar counts.
Beyond the impact an updated warning label might cause his business, Glausier is personally skeptical that an updated warning label would accomplish much in the way of public health.
“Nobody's drinking for their health and nobody's really looking at a label and like, ‘oh my gosh, I need to really readjust my life choices here,’” Glausier said. “We're drinking for fun. We're drinking for, you know, engagement for community, whatever.”
Glausier argued that small business supporters should be against additional costs to companies like his. When it comes to educating the public on the dangers of alcohol, Glausier said it’s not his job — or the government’s — to “parent” consumers.
“We're adults here. We understand the risk.”
The Surgeon General’s Advisory calls for an updated warning label on alcoholic beverages — action that requires congressional approval. Glausier isn’t worried about immediate ramifications.
“No, I don't think it's a major concern right now,” Glausier said. “It's something that, you know, could be brooding down the line and would suck. But I mean, change is the nature of the business.”
