Consumer Groups Call on Trump Administration for Stronger Alcohol Labeling

On June 18, 2025, 24 prominent consumer, public health, and food allergy groups called on the Trump Administration to enforce stronger federal alcohol labeling policies, including moving forward with a cancer warning as recommended by former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in his advisory earlier this year. The Center for Science in the Public Interest and other organizations—including the Consumer Federation of America and National Consumers League—wrote to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent highlighting the language of the current health warning statement, and noting that:

While amending this warning would require an Act of Congress, the TTB is directed by statute to make recommendations to Congress when such updates are necessary. With the Surgeon General advisory in hand and no update in the warning since 1988, the TTB is now well-positioned to make such a report, a move long urged by advocates.

In addition to urging the TTB to “take the necessary steps to request that Congress amend the alcohol warning to include cancer risk,” the letter also asks for the TTB to move forward with mandatory labeling of nutrition, food allergens, and ingredients in alcohol—all of which is currently the subject of Treasury Department Proposed Rules, and should be finalized by the Trump Administration upon closure of the comment period in August.

The letter to the Trump Administration was published on the same day as reports that the US government was expected to eliminate from its dietary guidelines the long-standing recommendation that adults limit alcohol consumption to one or two drinks per day.

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Mayer Brown LLP continues to monitor for developments related to former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s call for cancer warnings on alcohol labels. For more information, check out our February Legal Update regarding the regulatory and legal implications of Dr. Murthy’s alcohol advisory, our April Legal Update discussing the regulation of health claims made in connection with the advertising and promotion of alcoholic beverages, and our May Legal Update discussing Alaska’s recent bill requiring bars and liquor stores to post signage warning of alcohol’s alleged link to colon and breast cancer.