FDA approves first menthol electronic cigarettes

TThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday authorized the first menthol-flavored e-cigarettes for adult smokers, the government’s strongest indication yet that vaping flavors can reduce the harms of traditional tobacco smoking.

The FDA said it has authorized four menthol e-cigarettes from NJOY, the vaping brand recently acquired by tobacco giant Altria, which also makes Marlboro cigarettes.

The ruling lends new credibility 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 lobbying against the availability of flavors like menthol that are more popular among teenagers.

All e-cigarettes previously authorized by the FDA are tobacco flavored, which is not widely used by young people who smoke.

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Altria’s data showed that NJOY e-cigarettes helped smokers reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals from 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 multibillion-dollar vaping market after years of regulatory delays. Currently, the US market includes thousands of fruit and candy-flavored vaporizers that are technically illegal but have not been regulated.

The FDA faces a court deadline of the end of this month to complete its yearlong review of major vaping brands, including rivals like Juul and Vuse.

All of these brands have been sold in the US for years, awaiting FDA action on their scientific applications. To stay in business, companies must show that their products provide an overall health benefit to smokers without significantly appealing to children.

“Based on our rigorous scientific review, in this case the strength of the evidence of the benefits for adult smokers of completely switching to a less harmful product was sufficient to offset the risks for youth,” said Matthew Farrelly of the Center for Tobacco Products from the FDA.