Is there a 'cancer-inducing' warning on American liquor bottles? ... Passing Congress is 'disturbing'

[Anchor]
U.S. health authorities have proposed strengthening warning phrases attached to alcohol.

It's to state that drinking can cause cancer, but it's not very likely to become a reality because it needs to be approved by Congress.

I'm reporter Hong Joo-ye.

[Reporter]
Alcohol bottles and cans sold in the U.S. are warned that drinking alcohol before pregnancy or driving is dangerous.

The content has never changed since it was adopted in 1988.

Medical General Vivek Mercy, dubbed the "national doctor" of Americans, has come up with a new proposal.

The phrase that alcohol can cause cancer is also to be attached to the container.

It was based on data that 100,000 cancer cases occur every year in the United States alone and 20,000 cancer patients lose their lives in relation to drinking.

At the same time, he stressed that the damage is greater compared to the annual average of 13,500 people killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents.

The response is mixed.

[Charlott Rachael's / Warning phrase 'Chansung': If it doesn't help much, we can pause and think twice. It could help a little bit in that regard.]

[Kristen Drake / Warning phrase 'No': I'm a smoker and I don't smoke because of the warning on my cigarette pack. It's a kind of addiction. If you're willing to do it, you'll end up doing it with or without a warning.]

To put a cancer risk warning label on an alcoholic beverage, it must be approved by Congress.

However, as the liquor industry pours $30 million every year into the lobby and 44 billion won in our money, some predict that parliamentary passage will not be smooth.

I'm Hong Joo Ye of YTN.



Video editing: Han Kyung-hee