Tobacco companies will be required to report the levels of dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes, chew and other products under the latest rules designed to tighten regulation of the tobacco industry.
The preliminary guidance issued Friday by the Food and Drug Administration marks the first time tobacco makers will be required to report quantities of 20 chemicals associated with cancer, lung disease and other health problems. The FDA will require companies to display the information in a consumer-friendly format by next April.
Ingredients or byproducts subject to the new rule include ammonia, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde.
Regulators have identified more than 93 harmful or potentially harmful chemicals in tobacco products, though the agency is only focus on 20 for the coming year. The agency will take comments on the guidance until June 4, before finalizing them.
A law enacted in 2009 gave the FDA authority to regulate a number of aspects of tobacco marketing and manufacturing, though the agency cannot ban nicotine. The same law lets the agency approve ones that could be marketed as safer than what's currently for sale.
TVNL Comment: Cigarettes are the only products that, if used as directed, will KILL you. Still, they are permitted to hide 73 toxic chemicals, and to continue production using all 93, so long as some are revealed. Corporate greed has no boundaries. None.