Heavy metals in industrial areas threaten local resident health through multiple routes, in particular the contaminated food. Traditional glutinous rice wine (GRW) is a popular drink in China. However, the toxic metal pollution status of GRW remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to compare intake level and the effects of GRW on health risk among residents between industrial area and commercial area in the central of China. The results indicated the mean concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) of all GRW samples in industrial area were 0.78, 0.13 and 0.09 mg/L which had exceeded both of Chinese glutinous rice wine detection standard (DB46/T 120-2008) and National standard of Food safety (GB2762-2017), whereas the lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As)concentrations were normal in the commercial area. Health risk assessment showed industrial area had a higher risk of non-cancer health diseases via intake of lead (Pb), Cd and As in the order: Cd > lead (Pb) > As. The total hazard index (HI) in industrial area was 4.580 whereas in commercial area the HI was 0.491, respectively. Further, in the industrial area, the cancer risk (CR) of lead (Pb) was 9.523 × 10^–6 and Cd was 6.53 × 10^–2, whereas in commercial area, the CR of lead (Pb) was 1.286 × 10^–6 and Cd was 2.60 × 10^–3. The principal components analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis further identified high concentration of lead (Pb), Cd and As in the industrial area is due to industrial-related activities. Our findings emphasize the importance of following consumer advice with respect to GRW and urgent action should be taken to reduce the detrimental health effects to the industrial residents.