FDA Panel Hears Comments on Menthol

Tobacco reps told an FDA panel that menthol cigarettes are no more harmful than regular cigarettes.

July 16, 2010

WASHINGTON -Tobacco representatives from Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard told the FDA€™s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee on Thursday that menthol flavor added to cigarettes doesn't increase the risks associated with cigarette smoking, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"Our analysis of the published scientific literature and internal studies concludes that menthol added to cigarettes does not increase the inherent health risks of smoking," Jane Y. Lewis, senior vice president for Altria Group Inc., parent company for Philip Morris, said during testimony before an FDA panel.

The 12-member committee is hearing testimony both Thursday and today on potential health risks associated with menthol in cigarettes. The committee is expected to hold at least one or two more meetings before issuing a final recommendation on menthol to the FDA by March 23, 2011.

Based on the committee€™s findings, the FDA could decide to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes or mandate that tobacco manufacturers reduce the level of menthol flavoring.

NACS submitted comments on July 15, citing concerns that an outright ban would lead to dangerous and illegal black market activity: "NACS believes that a ban on menthol in cigarettes risks giving rise to an entire industry of unregulated cigarette products. It is simply not reasonable to expect that the menthol market, which accounts for roughly 30% of cigarette sales today, will vanish overnight, or could be phased out over time. Combined with the relative ease of obtaining menthol flavorings, black market manufacturers will sprout up very quickly."

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