FDA Warns Cigarette Makers on 'Natural' Labeling
August 27 2015 - 1:17PM
Dow Jones News
By Tripp Mickle
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday sent warning
letters targeting the owners of top-10 cigarettes brands Winston
and Natural American Spirit for violating federal law by marketing
the brands as "additive-free" or "natural."
The agency said the warning is the first it has issued for use
of those terms. It was sent to: Reynolds American Inc., owner of
Natural American Spirit; Imperial Tobacco PLC, owner of Winston;
and Sherman's 1400 Broadway N.Y.C. Ltd., owner of Nat Sherman
cigarettes, for its Nat Sherman cigarette brand.
"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," said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for
Tobacco Products, in a statement.
Reynolds and Imperial didn't immediately respond to request for
comment. Nat Sherman declined to comment.
The FDA said that cigarette brands have to apply to become a
"modified risk tobacco product" to be able to label or advertise as
additive-free or natural. The agency hasn't approved any cigarettes
as modified risk products since it gained oversight of the tobacco
industry in 2009.
The tobacco companies have 15 days to respond to the FDA and
explain their plans regarding the labels. The FDA said failure to
do so could result in further actions including monetary penalties,
criminal prosecution or seizure.
The agency's action came in the same week that antitobacco
activists and health groups wrote the FDA, urging it to take action
against Natural American Spirit cigarette brand for advertisements
with the phrases "additive-free natural tobacco" and "organic
tobacco."
Natural American Spirit and Winston are both top 10 cigarette
brands by sales in the U.S. Imperial acquired Winston in June from
Reynolds as part of a $7.1 billion deal that included three other
brands. Imperial's U.S. subsidiary, ITG Brands LLC, is in the
earliest phases of trying to reinvigorate Winston. It was the most
popular cigarette in the U.S. in the 1970s but has fallen to No. 7,
with an estimated 2.1% market share.
Natural American Spirit is priced higher than other cigarettes
because some of its cigarette styles use organic tobacco and
additive-free blends that include only tobacco and water. Other
brands make use of additives such as glycerol and corn syrup to
flavor the cigarettes.
The brand's sales have accelerated in recent years, rising to
$658 million last year from $289 million in 2009. Reynolds said
last month that Natural American Spirit's share of the U.S.
cigarette market is now 1.8%.
The health and antitobacco groups said in their letter that the
brand "is growing in popularity because consumers are being misled
to believe that the brand offers a healthier alternative to other
cigarettes." They added that disclaimers on Natural American Spirit
advertising saying, "No additives in our tobacco does NOT mean a
safer cigarette" are rendered "completely ineffective" because it
is small in comparison to the type size of phrases such as "organic
tobacco" and "100% additive-free."
More than two dozen groups signed the letter, including the
Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, the American Heart Association, the
American Lung Association and the American Legacy Foundation, which
was formed in 1999 as part of the Master Settlement Agreement
between tobacco companies and states.
The FDA's letter to Reynolds doesn't address Natural American
Spirit's use of the word organic on some cigarette styles, but it
could lead the company to curtail use of "additive-free" and
"natural" in advertising.
Natural American Spirit's growth has coincided with an uptick in
sales of products labeled organic. Sales of organic food more than
tripled over the past decade to $39 billion last year, according to
the Organic Trade Association, an industry group.
Write to Tripp Mickle at Tripp.Mickle@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 27, 2015 13:02 ET (17:02 GMT)
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