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Stock prices for alcohol makers and distributors fell sharply early Friday morning after Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a new advisory report calling for Congress to enact legislation to add a cancer risk warning label on all alcohol products. 

According to the new report, alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, behind tobacco use and obesity, but nearly three-quarters of Americans are unaware that increased alcohol consumption raises cancer risk. 

The report generated concern among investors, indicated by the drop in stock prices at the market opening just two hours after the report was published.

As of 10:30 a.m. EST, one hour after the market opening, stock prices for Brown-Forman, makers of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, fell by more than 1%. Anheuser-Busch fell by 2.25%, and Boston Beer Company, brewer of Sam Adams and Angry Orchard hard cider, was down by nearly 2.6%.

Constellation Brands, distributors for Modelo and Corona beers, Casa Noble tequila, and Mondavi wines, fell by approximately 1.25% one hour after the market opening. 

Murthy said when announcing the report that alcohol was a factor in 20,000 cancer deaths in the U.S. each year, about 6,500 more deaths than alcohol-related traffic fatalities annually. 

Worldwide, an estimated 741,300 cancer cases were associated with alcohol consumption in 2020, nearly 1 in 4 of which were related to consuming fewer than two drinks per day.

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Whether Murthy’s call for warning labels will be heeded remains to be seen, as several Republicans have accused public health authorities of overreach on alcohol guidance, including Rep. James Comer (R-KY) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Still, increasing public awareness about dietary toxins falls in line with the Make America Healthy Again agenda of President-elect Donald Trump and his nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., neither of whom drink alcohol.