Surgeon general's warning sends alcohol stocks sliding

Spirit companies saw stock prices plummet Friday after the U.S. surgeon general recommended cancer warning labels, similar to those found on tobacco products, be added to alcohol.

Boston Beer Company — known for products such as Angry Orchard, Truly Hard Seltzer, Samuel Adams and Twisted Tea — measured a 3.83 percent downward spiral.

Molson Coors, the Canadian American brewer responsible for brands including Miller Lite and Coors Light, saw stock prices drop by 3.3 percent while the Whiskey producing Jack Daniel’s recorded a 2.5 percent decrease in trading value.

The European spirit company Diageo also experienced a 3.7 drop after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in a statement that alcohol consumption marks the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., following tobacco and obesity. He warned that it can increase the risk for at least seven types of cancer impacting the breast, colorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth (oral cavity), throat (pharynx), and voice box (larynx).

Risk is not associated with a particular type of alcohol, such as beer, wine or liquor, he added.

“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 — greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. — yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” the surgeon general said in the statement. 

He noted there are about 100,000 alcohol-related cancer cases and about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths in the U.S. annually.

“This Advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm,” Murthy added.

It’s unclear whether companies will be required to adopt the proposed warnings, as the decision to require such labels will be up to Congress.