RICHMOND, Va. - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee indicated that dissolvable tobacco products appear to carry fewer health risks than smoking cigarettes, the Associated Press reports. However, the panel also warned that the products could help drive up the number of overall tobacco users.
The panel noted that there??s little research into dissolvable tobacco products because of the newness of the products. Tobacco firms have been trying out alternative products to cigarettes to spur sales.
The panel??s report found that using dissolvable tobacco products only would "greatly reduce risk" compared to smoking cigarettes on a regular basis. "Based on understanding of the delivery of toxins to cigarette smokers, exclusive use of (dissolvable tobacco products) should be less hazardous than regular smoking of cigarettes now marketed in the United States," read the report.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has been testing dissolvable mint and other flavored strips and tablets under the brands Camel Orbs, Camel Strips and Camel Sticks. Altria Group has also come up with a toothpick-type stick under its Marlboro brand. Star Scientific Inc. sells three varieties of tobacco lozenges under the Ariva and Stonewall brands.
But the panel also said that dissolvable tobacco products could make people believe tobacco in general is not as dangerous. The agency will look over the report before deciding any actions, but that it had no timeline in mind.