Anti-smoking advocates want U.S. health authorities to regulate more than 3,500 types of luxury cigars that cost $10 or more each, expanding oversight of the tobacco industry.
The products, known as premium cigars, should be subject to warning labels and pre-marketing review, the groups told the Food and Drug Administration in comments on the agency's April proposal to oversee cigars and electronic cigarettes for the first time. The groups also want the FDA to ban flavors such as cherry and vanilla in small cigars and e-cigarettes that are proving popular with teenagers.
In its proposal, the FDA asked whether it should exempt premium cigars such as Davidoff Cigars made by the Imperial Tobacco Group based on the industry's argument that users don't inhale and the products aren't purchased by youth. The FDA plans to regulate cigarillos and little cigars, inexpensive products that resemble cigarettes and often are flavored.
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