CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA) gathered physician and medical student leaders from all corners of medicine at its Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates to shape guiding policies on emerging health care topics.
The new policies adopted on the second day of voting at the AMA Annual Meeting include supporting alcohol product labeling to create awareness of health risks, and raising awareness of health impacts of ultraprocessed foods.
Supporting Warning Labels on Alcohol Products, Urging Dietary Guideline Clarity of Alcoholic Beverages
Approximately178,000 deaths in the U.S. each year can be linked to excessive alcohol use, making it one of the nation’s leading preventable causes of death. The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2025 report, “Alcohol and Cancer Risk,” shows that less than half of all people in the U.S. are aware that alcohol consumption increases their risk for cancer, despite the fact that it contributes to nearly 100,000 cancer cases and approximately 20,000 cancer deaths annually. The AMA adopted policy aimed at bolstering public awareness about the negative health risks between alcohol use and cancer, particularly breast cancer. Under the new policy, the AMA will work with other organizations to educate clinicians on the influence of alcohol use and breast cancer, as well as other cancer risks and treatment complications.
The policy also supports evidence-based efforts to minimize alcohol use, including eliminating the use of “pinkwashing” to market alcohol products and supports adding warning labels on alcohol ingredients and products. As part of this effort toward greater transparency of alcohol content and associated health risks, the new policy also calls on AMA to support federal and state legislation and regulations requiring standardized, front-of-package labeling on all alcoholic beverages. The labels should be prominently displayed and include the number of standard drinks per container and align with current guidelines on alcohol consumption, as well as the best available science—including appropriately acknowledging alcohol’s link to cancer and evidence showing that the risk of harm increases with greater alcohol consumption. The policy also supports extending alcohol labeling requirements to “non-alcoholic” or “zero proof” beverages that are manufactured, packaged, or marketed in a manner similar to alcoholic beverages, to ensure consistent transparency regarding alcohol content.
“Many people are unaware of the negative health risks associated with drinking alcohol, especially its link to cancer. It’s also difficult for the public to assess how much alcohol is contained in each product they consume,” said AMA Board Member Lynn Jeffers, M.D., M.B.A. “The AMA continues to strongly urge the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to explicitly warn about the risks of alcohol consumption and its relationship to certain cancers and other diseases, and encourages standardizing alcohol labels for greater transparency.”
Earlier this year, the AMA issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture encouraging them to update the 2025-2030 guidance to explicitly warn about the risks of alcohol consumption and its relationship to cancer as part of the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines.
Increasing Awareness of Adverse Health Impacts Linked to Ultraprocessed Foods
Ultraprocessed foods—which are made through industrially modified ingredients and are typically high in added sugar and salt, unhealthy fats, and low in fiber, protein, and other nutrients—have been shown to be associated with significant health risks when consumed regularly, including risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia.
The AMA adopted new policy aimed at promoting public awareness and education about the differences between unhealthful UPF and healthful foods, as well as the benefits of minimally processed and unprocessed foods. As part of this effort, the policy encourages the integration of nutrition education into all levels of medical education to empower physicians to best counsel patients on reducing unhealthful UPF consumption.
“More and more people are regularly consuming ultraprocessed foods because they are inexpensive, readily available, and manufactured to taste good. Many people don’t know that these foods are loaded with sugar, salt and other unnatural ingredients that enhance taste but offer little to no nutritional value and can be detrimental to their health,” said AMA Board Member Lynn Jeffers, M.D., M.B.A. “It’s important that we not only ensure that the public is aware of the health risks associated with ultraprocessed foods, but also make sure they’re familiar with healthier food options and the benefits of minimally processed and whole foods.”
Additionally, the policy supports federal, state, and local policies that promote and incentivize the production and distribution of healthier, affordable, minimally-processed and unprocessed foods. The policy also supports increased funding for the FDA to research the health impacts of UPF and strategies to mitigate their risks.
Media Contact
About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
