Also, the FDA said cigarette packs no longer can feature names such as "light," "mild," "medium" or "low," [image-nocss] which many smokers wrongly think are less harmful than "full-flavor" cigarettes, reported the Associated Press. Cigarette makers are replacing those words with colors such as gold, silver, blue and orange on brands that make up more than half of the smokes sold across the country.
New requirements relating to sales and distribution:
Prohibits the sale of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco to people younger than 18. Prohibits the sale of cigarette packages with fewer than 20 cigarettes. Prohibits the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in vending machines, self-service displays, or other impersonal modes of sales, except in very limited situations. Prohibits free samples of cigarettes and limits distribution of smokeless tobacco products. New requirements relating to marketing (labeling, advertising and promotion):
Prohibits tobacco brand name sponsorship of any athletic, musical or other social or cultural event or any team or entry in those events. Prohibits gifts or other items in exchange for buying cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products. Requires that audio ads use only words with no music or sound effects. Prohibits the sale or distribution of items, such as hats and tee shirts, with tobacco brands or logos. Click here to read the full text of the new rule.
Click herefor FDA Guidance, Compliance & Regulatory Information.
Andclick here for more details and links.
Enforcement of the new rule will begin once it becomes effective on June 22, 2010. The FDA said that it will work closely with states and territories to ensure that retailers comply with the rule. FDA will also work with the retail community over the coming months to educate them about the new requirements and assist them in understanding how to comply with them and help protect our children and adolescents from these addictive products.
Manufacturers and retailers who do not comply with the rule may be subject to enforcement action, the FDA said.
The rule was originally crafted by the FDA in the 1990s. After being set aside by the Supreme Court, it was included as a key provision of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act.
Anti-tobacco advocates say the colors are just as bad as the words, but tobacco companies argue they have a right to let smokers know which products are which. Companies insist the words tell smokers about the taste, feel and blend of a cigarette, not health risks. The cigarettes usually feature different filters and milder-flavored blends. Long years of advertising, however, emphasized measurements of lower tar and nicotine in "light" cigarettes, even though those were measured with smoking machines that don't mirror how real smokers puff.
Studies show that about 90% of smokers and nonsmokers believe that cigarettes described as "light" or have certain colors on the packages are less harmful even though "all commercial cigarettes are equally lethal," David Hammond, a health behavior researcher at the University of Waterloo in Canada, told the news agency.
Colors shape perceptions of risks on all products, Hammond said. For example, mayonnaise and soda usually use lighter colors on their packaging to distinguish between diet, light and regular products. He called the removal of those few words on cigarette packs "necessary but not sufficient measures" to improve public health or reduce false perceptions.
"This is essentially mopping up the worst excesses of what the courts in the U.S. have judged to be deceptive advertising," he said. "Tobacco companies are going to need words to distinguish their brands; it's just a question of identifying what descriptors or words lead to false beliefs."
He suggested the FDA take the ban even further and restrict both color and words such as "smooth" and "slim."
Other countries are considering going even further. The Australian government proposed legislation last month that would make manufacturers sell cigarettes in plain, standard packaging, without colors and logos. More than 40 countries already have laws prohibiting terms similar to what the FDA is banning.
"Absent this information, massive confusion in the marketplace would result," James E. Swauger, vice president of regulatory oversight for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., wrote in a letter to the FDA cited by AP. He warned that if the FDA were to go as far as banning colors, consumers would not be able to distinguish between brands, and manufacturers could be limited to one type of cigarette per brand because they would have no other way to distinguish their products.
The company, owned by Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc., made slight changes to some of its brands' packs, but for some, it was simply removing the words like "light" on already colorful packages.
Philip Morris USA has made more than 150 packaging changes to comply, said AP. It also has included inserts in packs and displays at retail locations telling customers to "In the Future, Ask For..." the new name or color of their brand.
For example, the company is replacing its Marlboro Light cigarettes with Marlboro Gold Pack; its Marlboro Menthol Milds will be known as Marlboro Menthol Blue Pack. Philip Morris USA is owned by Altria Group Inc., based in Richmond, Va.
While customers may already see some of the new packaging in stores, calling their smokes by their old names may be a harder habit to break than smoking itself. "I'll ask for Newport Light 100s, and I'll let them decipher it," a customerwhose brand made by Greensboro, N.C.-based Lorillard Inc. is now known as Newport Menthol Goldtold AP. "It's just kind of ridiculous in the sense that you know they're harmful for you."
Reynolds American unit Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., Santa Fe, N.M., announced that it has changed the packaging for two of its Natural American Spirit cigarette styles as a result of the new federal requirements. Ultra Light Mellow Taste Cigarettes, formerly in yellow and white packaging, are now in a solid orange pack. Menthol Light Mellow Taste Cigarettes, currently in green and white packaging, are changing to a solid, vibrant green.
Natural American Spirit Menthol Full-Bodied Taste Cigarettes will continue to be a dark green package.
"The products themselves have not changed," said David DePalma, senior director consumer marketing. "Our tobacco blends use premium quality, 100% additive-free, natural tobacco. That has not and will not change. New labeling requirements would have made it difficult to identify our Natural American Spirit styles with color gradations on the packs; however, the new solid colors for these two styles fit well with the other styles in our line, which are predominantly solid colors, so there is a serendipitous outcome to this change."
Cigarette brand name, color changes include:
Marlboro Lights: Marlboro Gold Pack. Marlboro Medium: Marlboro Red Label. Marlboro Menthol Milds: Marlboro Menthol Blue Pack. Camel Lights: Camel Blue. Camel Ultra Lights: Camel Silver. Camel Menthol Lights: Camel Menthol Silver. Newport Lights: Newport Menthol Gold. Newport Medium: Newport Menthol Blue. Natural American Spirit Ultra Light Mellow Taste: Natural American Spirit Smooth Mellow Taste (orange pack) Natural American Spirit Menthol Light Mellow Taste: Natural American Spirit Mellow Menthol Taste ("vibrant" green).
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.