FDA Concerned About Appeal of Smokeless Tobacco Products to Kids

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is “concerned that children and adolescents may find dissolvable tobacco products particularly appealing, given the brightly colored packaging, candy-like appearance and easily concealable size of many of these products,” according to a letter the agency sent this week to a pair of tobacco companies.

Reuters reported Feb. 3 that Lawrence Deyton, head of FDA's new Center for Tobacco Products, wrote to R.J. Reynolds and Star Scientific to seek more information on dissolvable products like Camel sticks, tablets and strips and Star products like Ariva and Stonewall.

FDA expressed concern about nicotine addiction and possible nicotine overdoses among underage users. Some prevention groups say such products have been showing up in schools and are difficult to detect both because of how they are used and the products' packaging.