GAITHERSBURG, Md.- Lorillard Inc., which manufacturers menthol cigarettes, has requested a probe into the testimony of government scientist about the risks of menthol cigarettes, Bloomberg reports. In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) questioned tobacco companies and scientists on the harmfulness of menthol cigarettes. Another round of hearings on the matter started this week.

"We are looking for accuracy along the way," said William True, senior vice president of research and development for Lorillard. "There will be much more this week in terms of quantifiable, measurable science."

The FDA is looking into what health risks are associated with smoking menthol cigarettes and the agency has to make a decision on whether to ban the products or not by March 2012.

True, along with executives from Altria Group and Reynolds American, will testify at this week??s hearings. Also giving information will be Lorillard??s director of direct marketing and marketing research, Leonard Jones, who will address questions concerning how the companies manufacture and promote menthol cigarettes.

In a brief sent to the FDA advisory panel in late June, Lorillard posited that agency staff cherry-picked the research that said smoking menthol cigarettes likely posed a greater health risk. "The best available science does not support an assertion that menthol in cigarettes impacts public health," the company said.

The recently enacted tobacco law gives the FDA the authority to ban menthol cigarettes if those products are deemed to carry a greater health risk than ordinary cigarettes.