FDA Tobacco Regulations in Effect

Labeling cigarettes "Light" and "mild" is now prohibited, along with selling cigarettes in packs of less than 20.

June 23, 2010

WASHINGTON - Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration€™s (FDA) authority over tobacco, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. June 22 also was the date when the agency€™s tobacco regulations went into effect, including a ban on the words "light" and "mild" when referring to cigarettes.

The new FDA tobacco rules:

  • Prohibit terms such as "light," "low" and "mild" in all advertising, labeling and marketing of existing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.
  • Require larger, stronger warning labels on all smokeless tobacco products and in advertisements.
  • Ban branded product tie-ins, such as T-shirts, with tobacco purchases.
  • Outlaws selling cigarettes in less than 20 cigarettes per pack.

Last week, the agency requested information on Marlboro Lights materials from Altria Group Inc. over an advertisement that mentioned the packaging is changing but the cigarettes have stayed the same.

"It€™s important to say there€™ve been a lot of ways we have communicated about products that have those descriptors. Since 1999, we€™ve said those words describe taste and that cigarettes with those descriptors are not safer," said Philip Morris spokesman William Phelps.

The FDA has been ordered by a federal court in Kentucky to wait to put into effect a rule that cigarette and smokeless tobacco ads only have black text on a white background. That regulation was supposed to go into effect yesterday. The agency will appeal the decision.

NACS has tobacco compliance resources available online. Read "New Rules for Tobacco Retailing" in the June issue of NACS Magazine for more information

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