Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars to Be Banned by FDA

Banning menthol cigarettes would result in a 15 percent reduction in smoking and save up to 654,000 lives over four decades, the agency claims.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in White Oak, Md., on June 5, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars due to concerns these tobacco products are harming American youth.

The FDA submitted the final rule for regulatory review to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Friday. “This final rule is a tobacco product standard to prohibit the use of menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes,” according to an OMB website. Legal resource center Law Insider defines the term “characterizing flavor” as meaning “a taste or aroma, other than the taste or aroma of tobacco” that is imparted either prior to or during the use of the tobacco product. Flavored cigars would also be banned under the rule.