FDA Decides to Ban Menthol.
Friday, May 21, 2021
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
On April 29, 2021, in a
move widely applauded by the public health community, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration finally granted the 2013 citizen
petition and 2021 supplement filed
by the Public Health Law Center and other public health groups, asking the
agency to remove menthol cigarettes from the marketplace. What this means is
that within the next year, the FDA has said it plans to propose
tobacco product standards to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor in
cigarettes. The agency has also agreed to ban all characterizing flavors
(including menthol) in cigars, including little cigars and cigarillos.
This victory for public health and health equity was made possible by the 2020 litigation
of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) and Action
on Smoking and Health (ASH) and other public health advocacy groups – as well
as the passion and persistence of all who joined these petitions and for years
have supported local, state, and national efforts to remove menthol flavored
commercial tobacco products from retail establishments.
FDA Menthol Timeline
(2021) Graphic depicting important events between the passage of the Family
Smoking Prevention Tobacco Control Act, and FDA’s April 29, 2021 announcement.
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