US Food and Drug Administration has approved two new types of cigarettes while turning down four other after the organization has been given full authority over all tobacco product regulations.
While these cigarettes aren’t any safer than the products currently available, they aren’t more harmful than usual, and which is why the FDA decided to approve these two new products.
Speaking of their commitment to public health, Director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, Mitch Zeller said, “Today’s decisions are just the first of many forthcoming product review actions to be issued. The FDA is committed to making science-based decisions on all product applications and providing the agency’s scientific rationale behind its actions to ensure the most transparent and efficient process possible for all involved parties, according to the law.”
The two products in question are the Newport Non-Menthol Gold Box 100s as well as the Newport Non-Menthol Gold Box, which were submitted for approval by Lorillard Tobacco Company.
As for the other four tobacco product recommendations which weren’t approved, they were not able to offer evidence that the addition of new ingredients would not raise new questions in regard to public health, no information about the product’s design as well as incomplete test data.
Margaret Hamburg further stated that this was the first step towards protecting public health by not allowing new tobacco products and thereby reducing death and disease caused by tobacco.
With the authority granted to the FDA in 2009 through the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Act, new products can only be approved for use by the FDA through a Marketing Order and by no one else.