95bFM Should New Zealand follow Ireland in requiring cancer warnings on alcohol?
20 August, 2025
Interview by Faith Ward, adapted by Sam Watson-Tayler
This year, Ireland introduced a law requiring alcohol products in the country to have a cancer warning label. The University of Auckland’s Karen Wright says having this warning in Aotearoa would help reduce the harmful effects of alcohol.
Per a new, word-first Irish law, New Zealand-based wine company, Villa Maria Wines, is placing cancer warnings on its alcohol products when sold in Ireland.
Despite recent regulations aimed at reducing alcohol consumption, such as prohibiting the sale of alcohol from off-licenses after 9 pm in Auckland premises, no law requires alcohol products in New Zealand to display cancer warnings.
Senior Lecturer from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, Karen Wright, told 95bFM’s The Wire that very few New Zealanders are adequately aware of the risks of alcohol and cancer.
She adds that only one out of five New Zealanders knows that drinking alcohol, even moderately, raises the chances of developing cancer, with drinking representing 1,250 cancer cases per year.
Wright praises Auckland Council’s policy on tightening when alcohol can be sold, as she says the more available alcohol is, the more harm it does.
Wright also believes in pushing for restrictions on alcohol advertising reaching children.
“Recent polling commissioned by Health Coalition Aotearoa and the Cancer Society saw 80% agreed that alcohol advertising should not be allowed to reach children.
“… so we really need to reform our alcohol legislation to [think about restricting the availability of alcohol and addressing the affordability of alcohol, and] do this in a really comprehensive way.”
She says better awareness of the harms of alcohol, such as including a cancer warning, would be good in the long run.
“... there's an opportunity that as more people are aware about alcohol and the broad harms that it can cause, this will increase acceptance of other policies that are really important to make a difference to reducing harm.”
