FDA to Weigh Safety of Tobacco Lozenges and Strips

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will this week evaluate the health safety and risks of candy-like tobacco products such as lozenges and strips, HealthDay’s Denise Mann reports.

Public health advocates are concerned about the dissolvable, smokeless tobacco products putting children at risk for nicotine addiction and poisoning.

"Dissolvables" are flavored mints, strips and sticks of smokeless tobacco. These products are not stop-smoking aids. Instead, they are designed to allow people to satisfy their cravings for nicotine in places where smoking is banned, the article states.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is test marketing Camel Orbs, Camel Strips and Camel Sticks in two cities, and Star Scientific Inc., is marketing two other dissolvable tobacco products, Ariva and Stonewall.

2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the agency authority over the manufacture, distribution and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.

According to an FDA memo obtained online, the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee will be discussing a range of issues including accidental poisoning from dissolvable tobacco, the effects of product packaging, marketing practices, youth perception of the products, and the behavioral, toxicological and physiological effects of dissolvable tobacco.

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