The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the first menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes for adult smokers, the government’s strongest indication yet that vapor flavors can reduce the harms of traditional tobacco smoking.
The FDA said it has approved four menthol e-cigarettes from NJOY, the vaping brand recently acquired by tobacco giant Altria, which also makes Marlboro cigarettes.
The decision gives new credence to vaping companies’ long-standing argument that their products can help reduce the toll of smoking, which is responsible for 480,000 deaths in the U.S. annually from cancer, lung and heart disease.
But parent groups and anti-tobacco advocates are sure to be disappointed by the decision after years of pushing for the availability of flavors like menthol, which are more popular with teens.
All e-cigarettes previously approved by the FDA have a tobacco flavor, which is not widely used by young people who vape.
Altria’s data showed that NJOY’s e-cigarettes helped smokers reduce their exposure to the harmful chemicals in traditional cigarettes, the FDA said. The agency emphasized that the products are neither safe nor “FDA approved,” and that people who don’t smoke should not use them.
Friday’s action is part of a sweeping FDA review aimed at bringing scientific scrutiny to the billion-dollar vaping market after years of regulatory delays. Currently, the U.S. market includes thousands of fruit- and candy-flavored vapes that are technically illegal but unregulated.
The FDA faces a court deadline at the end of this month to conclude its yearlong investigation into major vape brands, including rivals like Juul and Vuse.
All of these brands have been sold in the US for years, awaiting action from the FDA regarding their scientific uses. To stay in the market, companies must demonstrate that their products provide an overall health benefit to smokers without significantly appealing to children.
“Based on our rigorous scientific assessment, in this case the strength of the evidence of the benefits to adult smokers of switching completely to a less harmful product was sufficient to outweigh the risks to young people,” said Matthew Farrelly of the Center for Tobacco Products from the FDA.
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