FDA Clarifies Flavored Cigarette Ban
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Kevin Godbee - Sep 23, 2009
- 2 min read
In a media conference, the agency sheds new light on the fate of tobacco products.
The FDA held a media briefing this yesterday and has posted documents on the FDA Web site issuing additional information regarding the ban on flavored cigarettes, authorized by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that was signed into law in June.
According to the new documents, cigarettes containing an artificial or natural flavor (excluding tobacco or menthol) that is a characterizing flavor are banned as of today, Sept. 22.
The banned flavors include herb, spice, strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry and coffee.
Loose tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco intended to be used in cigarettes can continue to be sold as long as the tobacco does not contain a characterizing flavor, such as those mentioned above, that is banned under the new FDA law.
"Flavored cigarettes attract and allure kids into lifetime addiction," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Kohl, M.D., M.P.H. "FDA’s ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily."
The FDA is still examining options of regulating menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes.
Cigarette rolling papers and cigarette filters for use in roll-your-own cigarettes that contain a characterizing flavor are also banned. Only cigarette rolling papers and cigarette filters that do not contain a characterizing flavor are legal to sell .
Pipe tobacco, that according to the FDA is bona fide pipe tobacco, is not banned.
As far as flavored little cigars, the FDA stated-similar to what it said in previously-that "the ban applies to all tobacco products with certain characterizing flavors that meet the definition of a ‘cigarette’ in section 900(3) of the FDCA [Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act] even if they are not labeled as "cigarettes" or are labeled as cigars or as some other product."
During the conference call, a reporter from the New York Times asked if the flavored cigarette ban includes a ban on flavored little cigars, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. Dr. Lawrence Deyton of the FDA said the issue of a ban on other flavored tobacco products will be studied by the FDA in the near future.
The FDA is taking several steps to enforce the ban on flavored cigarettes. A letter recently sent to the tobacco industry provided information about the law and explained that any company who continues to make, ship or sell such products may be subject to FDA enforcement actions.
In the advisory, the FDA clarified that it will "issue Warning Letters to firms to notify them that they or their products are in violation of the law and to give them the opportunity to come into compliance," before confiscating banned tobacco products, handing out fines or bringing criminal prosecutions.
Editor’s note: See related Article / Editorial that includes links to definitions and the FDA letter and the new law.
Clove Cigarettes Banned as "Flavored" – Are they Coming for Your Pipe Tobacco Next?
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 619. Our featured interview tonight is with Corey Hays. Corey is a 26-year old pipe smoker that is part of our ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. He is from Mississippi and has never lived more than 20-minutes away from The Country Squire Tobacconist. He was influenced to smoke a pipe by reading J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and 20th Century American History. He has been smoking pipes for three years. At the top of the show, Brian will have a tobacco review of a special tobacco that you could only get a pipe show.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 618. Our featured interview tonight is with AJ Khaled. AJ is a 22-year old pipe smoker that is part of our ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. Interestingly, he wasn’t initially inspired to take up the pipe by The Lord of the Rings, but more so by the author Tolkien himself while he was reading some of his other works. AJ has some really unique custom made pipes where he gave design specifics to and had them made by pipe makers Chris Askwith and Arcangelo Ambrosi. At the top of the show, we’ll have an “Ask the Pipemaker” segment with pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
The other day, I was having a conversation with a friend about tobacco moisture. He tends to believe that a freshly opened tin presents the blender’s notion of the ideal moisture content for that tobacco, and that’s how it should be smoked. He’s not wrong, but as with so many things in our wacky world, it’s a little more complicated than that. When thinking about ideal moisture content for any specific tobacco, there are criteria for determining “correct” levels that can sometimes be at odds with one another. The proper moisture content for packaging tobacco, for instance, may not be the ideal moisture for smoking it. By way of background, let’s have a very brief and simplified look at the life of our beloved leaves once they’ve left the curing barns. Whole leaves or strips, the lamina of the leaves with the midrib removed, are boxed or baled quite dry for storage and transport. Before the tobacco can be worked, it has to be conditioned to a moisture level that allows it to be handled without shattering. There are various ways to accomplish this, but the end result is leaf that is pliable and easily manipulated without breaking. It can then be pressed into soft cakes that are cut into ribbons, or blended in stacks destined to be turned into plugs or flakes. At this point, it’s too moist to be considered “finished,” and has to go through a redrying stage. Since all of these steps may take place over a matter of months, or even years, tobacco can go through several conditioning/redrying cycles before it becomes the finished product. When it’s time to package a blend, the moisture level of the tobacco may have to be adjusted once again. If it’s too damp, there’s an increased risk of mold blooms, either within the sealed tin, or when spores are introduced after the tin is opened. This is never a good thing, so there’s a fairly hard upper limit to how much moisture is acceptable at this stage. If the leaf is too dry, on the other hand, things get troublesome in a different way. Dry, fragile tobacco can break into small fragments, even to the point of some of the leaf turning to dust during handling when packing the tins, and when those tins are jostled about during transport. This, again, is not ideal, establishing a lower limit for moisture content. Then, there’s the tobacco’s potential for aging to be considered. In order for these biological and chemical changes to take place, there has to be enough moisture to support the metabolic processes of the microorganisms involved in the various stages of fermentation that begin once the tin is sealed, and to allow for equilibration of various volatile byproducts of those processes. Finally, within the relatively wide window of upper- and lower-boundary conditions, there’s the moisture level for best smokability to be considered. That’s where things can get a little tricky. Different smokers have different preferences, and this is confounded by the fact that different types of tobaccos behave differently when their relative moisture content changes. To my palate, mixtures containing high percentages of latakia or oriental tobaccos generally tend to smoke and taste their best when on the dry side, while blends that predominantly comprise Virginia tobaccos like a bit more moisture to bring out their sweetness. But, this is a very general guideline, and I often find exceptions. Sometimes the same tobacco can be quite mercurial in its presentation depending on how damp or dry it is. The other day, I had a bowl of a latakia and Virginia-rich flake, fresh out of the tin with no drying time, and it was delightful, with the sweetness of the virginias taking center stage. A subsequent bowl, after a bit of drying time, rendered the orientals more forward, softened the sweetness, and polished the sharper edges of the latakia’s flavor profile. Same tobacco; two very different experiences. Additionally, things like ambient air temperature and relative humidity can play a significant role in the way any tobacco burns, but more importantly, how it tastes. (When it’s hot and humid, I generally abandon my latakia mixtures in favor of VAs and VA/perique blends.) If you haven’t experimented with this, it’s a fun thing to play with. Take enough tobacco out to fill your next bowl, and let it sit out for a while – anything from a few minutes to an hour or two, depending on the climate. (For those in tropical zones, this might actually have the opposite result. Yes, there really are people in some parts of the world who keep their tins sealed to keep moisture from getting in, not out.) See how it tastes in comparison to fresh from the tin. 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Keep an eye on it over a day or two, checking the progress periodically and ensuring the cloth remains damp. This also works […]
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Ok, the old Pundit is gonna say this only once. Well, maybe twice: It’s beach time! Some of my happiest pipe-smoking memories were created on the back deck of an original Pawleys Island, S.C., beach house. Listening to the waves dash and flop were pure music, highlighted by the squealing laughter of children frolicking along the beautiful Atlantic shoreline. Now, before you go bellowing about shark attacks, Pundit has his No. 1 Rule about sharks and warning flags, even if no flags are flying on an empty stretch of coastline. Having fished the surf many a day and evening, and even occasionally on a high pier resting on mighty shell-encrusted pilings and stretching out over the aqua-tinted waters, it became apparent that predators with large, sharp teeth prowled menacingly close to splashing bathers So, Pundit Beach Rule No. 1, ankle-deep wading and strolling, only. Make quick swims if it is not too windy, and never if menacing fins are seen cutting the water like the bow of a battleship. Rule adjustments might be needed for kiddies and exuberant beach paddlers in the family. Another necessary adjustment in the rule is no swimming alone. OK, beach lesson over. You don’t have to take Pundit’s word. Check out sea-going pipe-smoking experts: Herman Melville, who knew a thing or two about ferocious whales, and Sir Ernes Henry Shackleton, a famed adventurer who took on frozen seas. No sharks, but the message loudly proclaims oceans harbor many a menace, some large in body with huge teeth and some just frozen solid mountains of floating ice. And while checking up on Pundit, you might enjoy Chuck Stanion’s Herman Melville’s Literary Pipes February 4, 2022, in Pipe Line and his masterful story on the Shipwreck of Shackleford’s Endurance, also in Pipe Line. Now back to Pundit’s time on the beach, in a chair at sunrise on a screened-in deck, seas dancing, pipe in hand. Vacations today seem to be all hurly-burly, hurry, scurry, and worry. Back when a seaside deck beckoned, I packed not only fishing equipment, and some clothes, but also a shoulder bag full of pipes and enough tobacco to survive a voyage with Sir Shackleton. Each morning, noon, and night watch was accompanied by different pipes and different blends. Pipes ranged from Dunhills, Cavicchis, Ser Jacopos, Ashtons, Petersons, and Savinellis. Blends tended to be simple: aromatics and English containing various additives, of course. On rare occasions, I made a Pundit blend, which combined English with Latakia and aros with Virginia. Pundit blends were meh, but there were Cornell & Diehl, Capstan, Samuel Gawith, Three Nuns, Wessex, and the late lamented McClelland, plus a couple of others to save the rare moments. Pundit beach time was also a time for testing THESIS (taste, heat, enjoyment, strength, issues, satisfaction). There is but one way to do this properly and that is to employ a new cob pipe. Cobs give a good overall THESIS, sort of the cheaper version of precious sea-borne meerschaums. Cobs are, in a way, landlocked meers, and provide an excellent idea of how a particular blend will emerge. Ok, enough of experimentation. We are on a beach vacation, right? Observing the sun rising over an orange-lit horizon with a pipe and a cup of coffee is simply put, enchanting. Sun and ocean seem to merge for a brief moment in a blur of beauty. You can find yourself at the beach, leaning back in a chair, letting the morning-salted breeze sweep over you whilst you puff gently in between sips. Ahh, that’s a morning on the beach. There is nothing quite like it in the Pundit’s mind. And now for a couple of thoughts from real experts on sea adventures: Herman Melville is an American author, poet, and novelist best known for “Moby Dick.” But let us not forget Cornell & Diehl’s Melville at Sea tobacco series of blends: Billy Budd, Redburn, and John Marr, other noted works from Melville’s pen as well. It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great. Failure is the true test of greatness—Herman Melville. Then there is Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton. Pipes, as mentioned by Chuck in his excellent piece on the great explorer, who relied on his pipe when the going got rough. Through endurance we conquer― Ernest H. Shackleton And finally, a Pipe Smoker of the Past cannot go without mentioning: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born May 22, May 1859, and died July 7, 1930. If you are struggling to identify Sir Doyle in your mind, then you might be too young to be reading this. Of course, he is the prodigious author of the great detective Sherlock Holmes novels. Holmes and his drama are must-reads on any pipe-smoker’s novel list. ‘Nuff said! It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
that really sux’s i smoke cherry flavored cigarellos in many different name brands. i’m a heavy flavored cigar and pipe smoker. to me it sounds like the FDA desided to do this ban awhile ago but they desided to wait and are just now inforcing it, since the current cost hike in regular tobacco caused most regular smokers to switch to cigarello’s to excape the hike. to me it dose not matter much either way i prefer the flavored cigars it adds a little something extra to smoking and makes it more enjoyable. hopefuly they wont mess with my pipe tobacco tho nothing compares to a really great pipe tobacco the aroma and flavor its like a little bit of heaven.
They keep saying they are only targeting cigarettes. The polarized reaction on both the consumer side and business side is interesting to me. Some brush this off as nothing since it is just applicable to cigarettes, while others, like myself are quite concerned about the “slippery slope” … wondering what’s next and when will they come for my pipe tobacco?
You can read a lot more about this here:
https://pipesmagazine.com/blog/put-that-in-your-pipe/clove-cigarettes-banned-as-flavored-are-they-coming-for-your-pipe-tobacco-next/
Thats seriously messed up, soon there going to go after cigars and pipe tobacco. THey need to understand that the fact that the cigarette is flavored dosent factor into most kids decision to smoke. Kids just think it looks cool and think that they will be the one that dosent have any health problems even if they smoke. I just hope that they realize that not many kids smoke cigars and almost none smoke pipes, that way they can leave us alone.
The more taxes, bans and laws that keep slipping through makes me wonder what country this is…..What happened to freedom??? Who is free anymore?
The government was NOT put together to be our parents! These people that THINK it is their right to add new taxes and laws need to stick to doing their jobs and leave the parenting to mom and dad.
Maybe there are just too many of them on the pay roll and they have TOO much time on their hands and if that is the case, maybe we need to cut jobs in government so that these people can stay focused on REAL issues! Cutting some of those cushy jobs would save tax payers a heap and the budget would soon correct itself rather than keep taxing the heck out of us!
I fear that soon, people living in communist countries will have more freedom than Americans…..How messed up would that be? We are going to other countries to fight for THEIR freedom, right? Who will fight for freedom?
This is ridiculous, because you have to be 18 to purchase flavored tobacco products anyway, just like regular or menthol cigarettes. It’s not going to make any damn difference. If kids want to smoke, I doubt the first thought/enticement in their mind is “I should start smoking because some cigarettes taste like candy”. Fucking retarded.