Unsafe At Any Time In Any Amount

"Many Canadians are unaware that alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer, and most don't realize they are drinking unsafe amounts."

"The less alcohol you drink, the lower your cancer risk."

Andrea Seale, CEO, Canadian Cancer Society

"The last time we did the guidelines, it was in 2011."

 "In ten years there's definitely been significant improvements in our understanding of mortality and morbidity associated with alcohol use."

" We have a much better understanding of the link between alcohol and cancer."

Catherine Paradis, interim associate director, research, CCSA

New guidelines have been issued by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, an agency of the Canadian government, with the advice to the public that the illusion of safe-drinking is wishful thinking. The report recommends that warning labels be placed on alcohol products informing consumers of alcohol's link to cancer.

The research was compiled over two years with the use of 6,000 peer-reviewed studies by a panel of 23 experts from 16 organizations. Low- to high-risk of alcohol is covered in the report, the outcome of which is the determination that two drinks weekly falls into a low-risk category, whereas the last guideline dated 2011 suggested a maximum of 15 drinks each week for men and ten drinks for women as the ideal to see negative health effects reduced.

 

One /standard drink:

• 142 mL (5 oz) of wine, 12% alcohol content
• 43 mL (1.5 oz) of spirits, 40% alcohol content
• 341 mL (12 oz) of beer or cider, 5% alcohol content

The new guidelines found a moderate risk between three to six drinks weekly, including for breast and colon cancer. Each drink following that number increases risk of heart disease, liver disease and seven types of cancers. The findings appearing in the report are quite precise: Liver, heart disease and stroke, depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation were associated with drinking as well.

Most Canadians, according to a corresponding survey, are at risk of the hazardous health impacts of drinking, with 40 percent of respondents having consumed six or more drinks weekly, and an additional 17 percent three to six drinks a week. No evidence of health benefits in drinking was found by the research which cited as well the increased risk of injury and violence associated with the use of alcohol.

"[Alcohol causes 18,000 deaths yearly in Canada according to the latest data], with most cases being breast or colon cancer, followed by cancers of the rectum, mouth and throat, liver, esophagus and larynx."

Report on Alcohol Consumption

National health data, quoted by the report, reveals that alcohol use costs Canada $16.6 billion annually; of which $5.4 billion is spent on health care. Adding warning labels to bottles and packaging is not very popular with the alcohol industry which has called for an independent review of the report.

A person walks past shelves of bottles of alcohol on display at an LCBO in Ottawa in this 2020 file photo. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), which released its final report Tuesday, says no amount of alcohol is safe and that consuming any more than two drinks a week is risky. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)