Is no amount of alcohol safe? Understanding risks and public health guidelines

While it may be true that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, are alarmist statements a good motivator for health messaging, or is there danger to using them? (Shutterstock)

The United States surgeon general recently called for a warning of cancer risk on alcohol labels. And I agree. But the discourse that has come out in the media, by health professionals and health influencers, has been alarmist and a disservice to informing the public on the real cancer risks associated with alcohol.

I’m a professor in Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and I study how behaviours relate to the disease. I also write a blog on the role health behaviours play in your health.