FDA takes action against illegal marketing of tobacco products
FDA NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: May 25, 2011
Media Inquiries: Jeffrey Ventura, 301-796-2807, [email protected]
Consumer Inquiries: 877.CTP.1373
FDA takes action against illegal marketing of tobacco
products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it
issued 11 warning letters last week to online retailers for
illegally marketing tobacco products with misleading or
unsubstantiated claims or descriptors indicating that they can be
used to reduce harm or the risk of tobacco-related disease.
“There is no known safe tobacco product. It is illegal
for tobacco companies or retailers, including internet sellers, to
make unsubstantiated claims or statements that imply tobacco
products reduce health risks,” said Lawrence R. Deyton,
M.S.P.H., M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco
Products. “FDA will pursue enforcement actions to protect the
public health.”
The FDA cited the online retailers for a variety of illegal
marketing claims that violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic
Act, including use of terms such as: “Light”;
“Low”; “Mild”; “Less toxic”; or
“Safer.”
These claims are not permitted unless a company has received
an order from the FDA allowing it to market a product with these
claims based on scientific evidence. The agency has issued no such
orders to date.
In the past, some tobacco products were marketed with
descriptors that indicated they were safer or had a modified risk.
Those products were never proven to reduce health risk. Those
deceptive marketing practices may actually have led to continued or
increased tobacco use and harm to consumers who incorrectly thought
they were using a product that might be less risky. This kind of
marketing is now illegal under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act.
In addition to these marketing violations, other cited
violations included the illegal sale of flavored cigarettes.
The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products conducts routine
monitoring and surveillance of tobacco product marketing,
advertising and promotion to assess compliance with the law. The
agency will consider additional sanctions for failure to correct
the violations cited in warning letters, which may include civil
money penalties, no-tobacco-sale orders, seizure, injunction and/or
criminal prosecution.
For more information:
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The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety,
effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines
and other biological products for human use, and medical devices.
The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our
nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements,
products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating
tobacco products.
The FDA Center for Tobacco Products' mission is to protect
public health by issuing and enforcing tobacco product regulations
and educating the public about the dangers of tobacco product use.
Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and
death in the United States. Tobacco products are responsible for
approximately 443,000 deaths and $193 billion in medical
expenditures and lost productivity each year in the
U.S.1 The Center's priorities are to prevent youth from
using tobacco, help those who use to quit, provide accurate
information about tobacco products, enhance the science base for
tobacco product regulation, and use regulatory tools to reduce the
public health burden of tobacco in the United States. To report a
violation, call the FDA Center for Tobacco Products call center at
877-287-1373, option #3 or send an email to
[email protected]. Visit
www.fda.gov/tobacco
for more information.
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential
Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States,
2000–2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
2008;57(45):1226–8 [accessed 2011 Mar 11].