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The FDA concluded in 2013 that menthol is more difficult to stop and is likely to pose a greater health risk than regular cigarettes.
Photo:
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration is not just fighting e-cigarettes. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb also plans to ban menthol cigarettes, according to senior officials of the agency.
It may take a year or more before a rule prohibiting menthol is finalized, then another year for this rule to be applicable on the market. But a ban on menthol would be a blow for
British American Tobacco
PLC, which sells the Newport brand of cigarettes in the United States.
Reynolds American, BAT's US subsidiary, paid $ 25 billion in 2015 for the acquisition of Lorillard Inc. and Newport, the country's leading menthol brand. Last year, menthol accounted for 55% of BAT cigarette sales in the United States and about 20% of competing cigarette sales.
Altria Group
of the
MO -2.98%
cigarette sales, according to analyst Cowen Vivien Azer.
The FDA concluded in 2013 that menthol is more difficult to stop and is likely to pose a greater health risk than regular cigarettes. The agency said the use of cigarettes, which are flavored with the menthol compound, was likely associated with an increase in smoking among young people and young adults, probably because menthol helps reduce the number of cigarettes in the diet. Throat irritation caused by cigarette smoke.
But it was only last year that the agency announced that it was actively considering banning menthol and other flavored tobacco products. The tobacco industry rejected the FDA's findings. BAT did not respond to requests for comments on Friday and an Altria spokeswoman declined to comment.
Dr. Gottlieb is expected to announce strict restrictions on the sale of most pod-flavored electronic cigarettes as early as next week, removing them from most convenience stores and gas stations, and demanding strict checks to check the number of pod-flavored electronic cigarettes. Age for online sales, according to senior agency officials. These actions are aimed at stopping a wave of vaping in children and adolescents. Electronic cigarette products with flavors of mint, menthol and tobacco will be allowed to stay in all retail outlets at the moment, but the mint and menthol flavors could be restricted later if use by young people continues to increase, said senior agency officials.
FDA officials, who want to limit drug use by young people while encouraging adult cigarette smokers to adopt less harmful products, such as electronic cigarettes, have decided not to restrict cigarette sales mentholated and mentholated electronic products. cigarettes that were more appealing to smokers who prefer menthol, said senior agency officials.
Write to Jennifer Maloney at [email protected]
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