& Bogdanovica, I
San Jose Mercury News
Cigarette Characterizing Flavor Ban in Tobacco Control Act Although the availability of menthol cigarettes has long been a subject of controversy, because of the history of menthol use in cigarettes, Congress avoided legislating a menthol ban with the 2009 enactment of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA), which prohibited the sale of cigarettes with characterizing flavorsyet specifically exempted menthol and tobacco flavors from the ban.[2] More specifically, the TCA established a tobacco product standard special rule for cigarettes that prohibits a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) from containing, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or a herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.[3] The purpose of the cigarette flavor ban, according to FDA, is to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products by making them less attractive to adolescents and to remove an avenue that young people can use to begin regular tobacco use.[4] Instead of including menthol in the cigarette flavor ban, Congress directed the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC)[5] to review and report on the issue of the impact of menthol in cigarettes on the public health, including such use among children, African-Americans, Hispanics, and other racial and ethnic minorities, and gave FDA the authority to regulate the use of menthol in cigarettes through its rulemaking procedures
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