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The Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act (ABLA) of the
In 2025, the
The Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act (ABLA) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (, ) is a major law of the War on Drugs passed by the U.S. Congress which did several significant things:
# Created the policy goal of a drug-free America;
# Established the Office of National Drug Control Polic ...
, , , is a United States federal law
The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...
requiring that (among other provisions) the labels of alcoholic beverages carry an alcohol warning label
Alcohol packaging warning messages (alcohol warning labels, AWLs) are Warning label, warning messages that appear on the packaging of alcoholic drinks concerning their Health effects of alcohol, health effects. They have been implemented in an e ...
.
The warning label
A warning label is a label attached to a product, or contained in a product's instruction manual, warning the user about risks associated with its use, and may include restrictions by the manufacturer or seller on certain uses.
Some of them ...
reads:
The ABLA also contains a declaration of policy and purpose, which states that the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
finds that
Research evidence suggests that the current American fetal warnings aren't very effective. Many people don't notice them.
The labels have been criticized for being so poorly-designed as to be almost useless. They are small, black-and-white, and entirely text-based, unlike tobacco packaging warning messages
Tobacco package warning messages are Warning label, warning messages that appear on the Cigarette pack, packaging of cigarettes and other tobacco products concerning their Health effects of tobacco, health effects. They have been implemented in a ...
, which now mostly use images. Although drinking alcohol is harmful to health under all circumstances, the labels warn only about not drinking under specific circumstances, with messages about impaired driving
Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...
and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person who is exposed to alcohol during gestation. FASD affects 1 in 20 Americans, but is highly misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed.
The several forms of the ...
. All of these traits have been shown to make labels less effective, in lab and virtual studies. Tim Stockwell, one of the researchers designing the Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study, described evidence on the effectiveness of the labels mandated by the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act as "pretty moot because the labels are so bad."
2025 updates recommended by the Surgeon General
In 2025, the Surgeon General of the United States
The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. T ...
Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy
Vivek Hallegere Murthy (born July 10, 1977) is an American physician and a former vice admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, who served as the 19th and 21st surgeon general of the United States from 2015 to 2017 a ...
called for updates to alcohol warning labels on alcoholic beverages, with the advisory noting “Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States.” The updates specifically concern the cancer risk associated with alcohol consumption.
References
1988 in American law United States federal controlled substances legislation Alcohol law in the United States {{US-law-stub