U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent this bulletin at 04/28/2022 02:07 PM EDT
On April 28, FDA announced two proposed product standards: one to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and one to prohibit all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars.
These actions have the potential to significantly reduce disease and death from combusted tobacco product use, the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., by reducing addiction and youth experimentation, increasing the number of smokers that quit, and advancing health equity by addressing key health disparities.
These proposed product standards are based on clear science and evidence establishing the addictiveness and harm of these products and build on the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which prohibited all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco and menthol) in cigarettes in 2009. They are also a critical piece of the Administration’s reignited Cancer Moonshot to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years; tobacco use is a leading cause of cancer and death from cancer, and approximately 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States are caused by smoking.
Beginning May 4, the public can provide comments on these proposed rules. FDA will review all of the comments, as we consider our future actions. The agency also will convene public listening sessions on June 13 and June 15 to expand direct engagement with the public, including affected communities. The listening sessions are another opportunity for individuals, communities, and organizations to share their perspectives with FDA and will be recorded and submitted to the dockets. FDA is especially interested to hear from those individuals or communities who may be less likely or less able to provide formal written comments through the standard process of docket submission. Additional details, such as the time of the listening sessions and registration information, will be posted on our website soon.
The public will have the opportunity to submit either electronic or written comments directly to the dockets on the proposed rules through July 5.
United States Food and Drug Administration – 2022-04-28.
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