The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the makers of Nat Sherman, Natural American Spirit and Winston cigarettes that they cannot claim their products are “additive-free” or “natural” without regulatory approval.
Now, the agency will require products of this kind to obtain a “modified risk” tobacco product order before they can be described in this way.
“The FDA’s job is to ensure tobacco products are not marketed in a way that leads consumers to believe cigarettes with descriptors like ‘additive-free’ and ‘natural’ pose fewer health risks than other cigarettes, unless the claims have been scientifically supported,” says Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s tobacco products division.
The FDA first gained authority to regulate cigarettes in 2009, partially due to the tobacco industry’s general misuse of descriptors like “mild” and “light” to suggest those products were less harmful to users.
