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FDA Panel Examines Evidence on Menthol in Cigarettes

WASHINGTON: March 30, 2010 -- The FDA's new tobacco advisory panel took up the racially-charged issue of menthol in cigarettes during the first day of its two-day inaugural meeting Tuesday.

The question: whether adding menthol to cigarettes makes it easier to start smoking and harder to quit, and whether the additive and its marketing target African Americans and young people in general.

The Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, authorized by last year's legislation giving the FDA regulatory control over tobacco, is also hearing data on any connections the additive might have to the development of cancer and cardiovascular problems.

The panel -- comprising doctors, government officials, a private citizen, and three nonvoting tobacco industry reps -- will issue a report on menthol in cigarettes by March 2011.

The Family Smoking and Prevention Tobacco Control Act barred tobacco manufacturers from adding candy-like flavors to their products -- such as cloves and vanilla -- but the law left a determination on menthol to the FDA.

Menthol is an alcohol that stimulates cold receptors. Found naturally in peppermint and corn oil, it can mask the taste of the cigarettes and provide the smoker with a cool and minty flavor.

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Tobacco Facts

Tobacco use is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced.

There are more than one billion smokers in the world.
Globally, use of tobacco products is increasing, although it is decreasing in high-income countries.
Almost half of the world's children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke.
The epidemic is shifting to the developing world.
More than 80% of the world's smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.
Tobacco use kills 5.4 million people a year - an average of one person every six seconds - and accounts for one in 10 adult deaths worldwide.
Tobacco kills up to half of all users.
It is a risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of deaths in the world.