The ban is a part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, legislation under which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been granted the authority to regulate tobacco products. President Barack Obama had signed the law on June 22 this year.
The legislation came into effect after the nation's top distributor of clove cigarettes-- California-based Kretek International Incorporation-- began offering small filtered spice-flavored cigars wrapped in tobacco rather than paper.
Ban includes cigarettes with candy, fruit and clove flavors
Candy, fruit and clove flavored cigarettes are banned under the act. However, it does not include a ban on menthol flavor or other flavored tobacco products like cigars.
But the FDA said that it's "examining options" for regulating menthol cigarettes as well as other tobacco products, like smokeless tobacco products, which also have flavors.
In addition to banning the flavored cigarettes, the act will also enable the FDA to monitor the nicotine quantity in tobacco products, require the tobacco companies to fully disclose information about the ingredients in the tobacco products, eliminate the use of labels such as "low tar" and "light”, and prohibit marketing campaigns, especially those geared toward children.
The legislation also requires the tobacco companies to cover their cartons with large graphic warnings on the health risks of smoking.
FDA warns the manufacturers circumventing the new ban
Despite the ban, some manufacturers are distributing flavored cigarettes marketed as "mini-cigars”.
However, the FDA has sent a letter to the tobacco industry last week clarifying that the ban applies to all tobacco products, "even if they are not labeled as 'cigarettes' or are labeled as cigars or as some other product."
FDA ban favors nation’s health
Studies reveal that flavored cigarettes have been particularly appealing to the American youth. Health advocates maintain that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over age 25. The prohibition will help stop more than 3600 youth who smoke every day regularly.
"Almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers. These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg said.
"The FDA will utilize regulatory authority to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products to enhance our nation's public health,” he added.
Health advocates are of the view that flavored tobacco products are clearly intended to introduce tobacco to a new generation of children.
Banning the candy and fruit flavorings in tobacco products, especially cigarettes, can have a significant effect on the reduction of smokers among youth, they say.
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