Tag: menthol

African American Group Sues FDA For Inaction on Menthol

Photo: Miriam Doerr | Dreamstime.com
The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) are suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for alleged inaction on menthol.
The plaintiffs have asked the court to compel the FDA to act on its own conclusion that banning menthol from tobacco products would benefit the public health.
The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act banned flavors in cigarettes but excluded menthol, subject to further research. In 2011, the FDA’s advisory committee concluded that the “Removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States.”
Despite this conclusion, and several statements of support in the interim, the FDA has not begun the rulemaking process of removing menthol from combustible cigarettes. The plaintiffs are asking the court to direct the FDA to act.
According to the AATCLC and ASH, smoking-related illnesses are the No. 1 cause of death in the African American community, and 85 percent of African American smokers consume menthol cigarettes.
“By continuing to delay, the FDA and the U.S. government are failing to protect the health of U.S. citizens, particularly African Americans, and the U.S. is also falling behind the global trend as countries around the world are increasingly banning menthol,” said Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, managing attorney at ASH.
On May 20, the European Union banned menthol cigarettes.
“Our nation finds itself at a moment in time when action to eradicate systemic inequities and racism is crucial to fighting injustice, and this case is a perfect example of action which will elicit positive change,” said ASH in a statement.
Read the full complaint here.
June 18, 2020
Massachusetts Flavor Ban Boosts Out-of-State Sales

Photo: Borgwaldt Flavor
Tobacco sales in Massachusetts convenience stores are down less than a week after the state’s ban on flavored tobacco took effect, reports CSP Magazine. However, tobacco sellers in neighboring states are reporting an uptick in business.
On June 1, Massachusetts restricted the sale of flavored combustible cigarettes and other tobacco products—including menthol cigarettes and flavored chewing tobacco—to licensed smoking bars where they can be sold for on-site consumption.
“We’re down double digits in menthol cigarettes,” said Leo Vercollone, CEO of VERC Enterprises, a retail convenience store/gasoline and carwash group operating in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
Cigarette and other tobacco product sales were down about 12 percent at his Massachusetts stores compared to last year, Vercollone said. However, in the first few days of June, tobacco sales at two of his stores on the New Hampshire border were up about 40 percent, he said.
Tobacco sales make up about 15 percent to 30 percent of in-store revenue for c-stores, and menthol sales typically make up about 34 percent of tobacco sales—and more in minority communities and cities, said Jonathan Shaer, executive director of the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association.
The effects of the ban, coupled with the devastating effects of Covid-19 on the economy, could mean 800 or more c-stores will permanently close within months, Shaer estimates.
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June 11, 2020
Irish Health Authorities Probe Menthol Successor Products

Photo: Photo:Beverly Buckley from Pixabay
Ireland’s Health Service Executive is investigating whether cigarette makers are breaching a recently enacted EU ban on menthol cigarettes, reports The Irish Times.
The move comes after Minister for Health Simon Harris accused tobacco companies of “undermining” the ban by exploiting loopholes in the new rules.
Cigarette manufacturers throughout the EU have been introducing substitute products targeting former menthol smokers, but critics contend some of the new products fall foul of the ban. Japan Tobacco International’s (JTI) Silk Cut Choice Green variant, for example, still contains low level of menthol, but the company insists this is legal as long as the cigarettes have no other smell or taste than tobacco.
JTI says it shared in advance the ingredients for its new menthol-added product with the relevant authorities in Ireland and the EU. “So there is full transparency throughout this process,” the company said.
Philip Morris International launched Marlboro Bright, which it sells as a “menthol blend without mentholation.”
Meanwhile, Irish retailers, who commit a criminal offence if they sell menthol-flavored cigarettes, have started contacting manufacturers asking for confirmation that the substitute products they introduced after the menthol ban are legal.
The Irish market for menthol cigarettes was valued at €250 million ($284.27 million) prior to the EU ban.
June 10, 2020
Foundation to Probe Menthol Bans and Social Justice

Photo: Viachaslau Bondarau | Dreamstime.com
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World has begun a series of surveys analyzing the behaviors of adult smokers in several countries before and after the EU menthol cigarette ban that came into force on May 20, 2020.
While there is solid science to suggest that a ban of menthol combustible cigarettes would ultimately improve public health, the foundation says it is crucial that legislation does not put already vulnerable communities in even greater danger.
The organization hopes that the findings from its survey will help inform other jurisdictions considering similar measures.
Last November, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. And in February of this year, the House of Representatives approved a bill to eliminate the sale of these cigarettes at the federal level.
Yet many researchers point out that the use of menthol cigarettes is disproportionately high among U.S. ethnic minority groups, especially African Americans. Democratic Congresswoman Yvette Clarke noted that nationwide menthol bans would have little effect on white smokers, while “black smokers could face even more sweeping harassment from law enforcement if the hint of menthol smoke can justify a stop.”
June 9, 2020
BAT Slammed for ‘Tattling’ on JTI Menthol Substitutes

Photo: simisi1 from Pixabay
Bob Blackman, chairman of the U.K. All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, has criticized British American Tobacco (BAT) for leaking information about products made by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) following the ban on menthol cigarettes sold in the European Union, reports I News.
Blackman said he received a letter from BAT that claimed it had data showing that a new range of JTI cigarettes still contained menthol. “As I responded, their offer is completely inappropriate; their public duty is to share the evidence with the appropriate authorities without delay,” said Blackman.
A spokesman for BAT said the group had analyzed several JTI products and found them to contain menthol characteristics.
While admitting its new cigarettes contain menthol, JTI insisted they do not break the new laws.
“Some JTI cigarettes and rolling tobacco sold in the U.K. do still contain very low levels of menthol,” a spokesman for JTI said. “This is not prohibited under the law, provided that the use of such flavorings does not produce a clearly noticeable smell or taste other than one of tobacco—which they do not.”
Blackman said he had forwarded a copy of the letter to Public Health Minister Jo Churchill who responded that the issue was “being followed up” by her officials to investigate.
June 8, 2020
Tobacco Firms Accused of ‘Undermining’ EU Menthol Ban

Photo:Beverly Buckley from Pixabay
Ireland’s minister of health, Simon Harris, has urged the EU to crack down on tobacco industry actions that he believes are “undermining” the recently enacted ban on menthol cigarettes.
Across the EU, tobacco companies have been introducing products targeted at smokers who previously used menthol products.
Philip Morris International (PMI), for example, introduced Marlboro Bright, a brand that it described as a “menthol blend without methylation.” Japan Tobacco International (JTI) launched Silk Cut Choice Green.
JTI and Philip Morris both advertised their new brands to Irish retailers as replacements or substitutes for their old menthol cigarettes.
PMI believes Marlboro Bright complies with the ban because the cigarette doesn’t taste of menthol when smoked. It also criticized any Irish retailers that are still illegally selling its old menthol Marlboro Green brand.
Anti-smoking campaigners in Britain recently lambasted JTI for distributing information to retailers on how to “navigate” the ban in a publication titled “Making a Mint.”
Rival tobacco companies that have chosen not to introduce substitutes for menthol cigarettes also criticized the moves by JTI and PMI.
“We believe both the letter and spirit of the law is clear, and as such we are not launching any cigarette brands or accessories with menthol-type properties,” said Simon Carroll, the Ireland country manager for British American Tobacco, whose subsidiary there is PJ Carroll.

The menthol market was estimated to represent up to 18 percent, or about €252 million ($282.3 million), of the Irish tobacco market before the introduction of the EU ban on May 20.

June 3, 2020
Minting Substitutes

Photo: JTI
Cigarette manufacturers are offering alternatives to smokers left in the cold by the EU menthol ban.
By Stefanie Rossel
As the Covid-19 shutdown left many retailers unable to sell off their noncompliant products ahead of the EU menthol ban, tobacco industry representatives pleaded for an extension of the deadline to no avail: On May 20, article 7 of the Tobacco Product Directive (TPD2) entered into force. Since then, sales of cigarettes with “characterizing” flavors other than tobacco have been prohibited throughout the EU. The ban, which predominantly affects the menthol cigarette category, has ended sales of cigarettes with menthol capsules, click on, click and roll, crushball or dual menthol cigarettes. Vending hand-rolling tobacco with mentholated filters or papers is also illegal if they are supplied together. Exempted from the ban are menthol-flavored e-liquids for vapor products, separately available mentholated smoking accessories, menthol-flavored oral nicotine pouches and cigarillos. Outside of Germany, mentholated consumables for heated tobacco products (HTP) also continue to be legal.
The ban has eliminated an entire class of cigarettes throughout the continent. Although menthol is a far smaller business in the EU than it is in the U.S., where it accounts for roughly one-third of all cigarette sales, its prohibition touches around 8 million adult smokers, according to the most recent Eurobarometer report (from 2017) on attitudes of Europeans toward tobacco and electronic cigarettes. The report finds that menthol cigarette consumption varies significantly throughout the common market, with the products being most popular in Finland (24 percent), Denmark (20 percent) and the U.K. (18 percent) and representing a small proportion of the markets in Slovenia, Cyprus and Greece with 2 percent each. Euromonitor International estimates that the category generates $11 billion in sales in Western Europe.

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A matter of taste
The question is how the millions of menthol smokers will respond when they can’t get their favorite fix anymore. Are they going to quit smoking altogether, as the European Commission hopes? Will they embrace regular cigarettes, resort to mentholated tobacco products that remain legal or switch to reduced-risk products (RRPs)?
“It is still too early to predict what current menthol smokers will do once their preferred products disappear from shelves,” says Femi Namfua, corporate media relations director at Japan Tobacco International (JTI). “The EU gave menthol smokers a six-year transition period to switch to other products. We now have to wait and see how smokers will react. We hope the menthol ban in the EU won’t lead smokers to the illegal trade as this will completely defeat the purpose of the ban—something we warned regulators about during the proposal phase of the new regulation.”
Eric Sensi-Minautier, head of British American Tobacco’s (BAT) EU office, shares this view. “It’s the million-dollar question,” he says. “I believe they will resort to looking for other possibilities available. That’s why it is essential that we are able to offer a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky products.”
Earlier this year, JTI surveyed more than 350 retailers in the U.K., a £11 billion ($13.67 billion) cigarette market of which JTI and Imperial Brands jointly hold an 80 percent share. Data that became available after the 2017 Eurobarometer report suggests that around a quarter of the U.K. market, or $3.42 billion, consists of mentholated cigarettes. Of the surveyed retailers, 25 percent believed that former menthol smokers would remain brand loyal within the ready-made cigarette (RMC) category, 19 percent thought they would switch to roll-your-own tobacco and 45 percent were confident that their customers would switch to vaping or other RRPs. Eleven percent expected previous menthol users to leave the category altogether.

Imperial Brands is enticing former menthol smokers to embrace its vapor products.
Photos: Imperial Brands
Ban sparks innovation
To meet all possible consumer preferences, cigarette manufacturers in recent months have become creative in their efforts to provide former menthol smokers with the widest possible range of products, including RRPs.
“Menthol cigarettes account for a significant portion of the European market, so the removal of these products from shops last month means a number of smokers will be seeking to make alternative product choices,” says Simon Evans, group media and online communications manager at Imperial Brands. “It’s important that we provide a range of options at such a time of significant consumer ‘churn.’ Our Myblu vaping product is available in menthol and other flavored varieties, giving extra impetus for smokers to transition away from cigarettes.”
“But we also understand that many menthol smokers will decide to continue to smoke and so we also focus on providing an evolving portfolio of products in line with their expectations,” says Evans. “Rizla Flavour Cards are flavor-infused sheets of card that can fit inside a pack of cigarettes. When left in the pack for at least an hour, the contents will take on the flavor of the card. Menthol and mint varieties are available. Rizla menthol filter tips are also available for consumers of rolling tobacco.”
Aroma cards have been around from other suppliers for some time, for example from Frizc. For the flavoring of loose tobacco, companies like MacBaren offer ampoules with liquid menthol aroma.
BAT, which is preparing for a future that is likely to be in noncombustible nicotine products (see “Beyond Tobacco,” Tobacco Reporter, May 2020), has been extending its vapor product portfolio to cater to former menthol smokers’ needs. In early May, the company introduced a range of new menthol e-liquid flavors and limited-edition starter kits for its Vype brand in the U.K. “Our strategy is to accompany smokers to move to less risky products,” Sensi-Minautier points out. “The entry into force of the EU menthol ban is a good moment for this.”
According to the company, the new range of e-liquids now closely mirrors the experience of smoking a menthol cigarette, with new blends, an innovative tube filter and new formats across the range. BAT has also innovated its Pall Mall, Vogue and Rothmans brands to offer former menthol smokers attractive, nonmenthol cigarettes.

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Providing more choice
In March, JTI launched several alternative products with new tobacco blends in the U.K. Its New Dual range, which is available in the Sterling, Benson & Hedges and Sovereign brands, provides smokers with new, distinctive tobacco blends, replacing the company’s former menthol capsule cigarettes. The same blend will also be used for the “green” product variants of the Sterling, Benson & Hedges and Berkeley “New Superkings” ranges. As long as their products do not contain menthol, retailers are still allowed to sell cigarettes with names that were previously used to describe a menthol product, such as “green.”
For all those who can’t do without their hint of mint, JTI in early February introduced a cigarette-sized menthol cigar, the Sterling Dual Capsule cigarillo, in the U.K. The product is marketed under the same name as one of JTI’s cigarette brands but is exempt from the ban because it is wrapped in tobacco leaf rather than paper. As its name implies, its filter contains a mentholated capsule, which smokers can click to release a peppermint flavor. Being a cigarillo, it sells at half the price of regular cigarettes.
The company also broadened its RRP portfolio, introducing a variety of new menthol flavors for its Logic e-cigarette brand and its Ploom tobacco vapor products, and outside of RRP, its Nordic Spirit nicotine pouches.
Philip Morris International (PMI) in March added a menthol kit to its IQOS heat-not-burn product comprising an IQOS 2.4 device and two packs of mentholated heat sticks. According to the company, 51 percent of menthol smokers would switch to IQOS when their preferred menthol smoke was no longer available, betterretailing.com reported.
Despite the long transition period—the ban on menthol was announced in 2016, with the introduction of the TPD2—awareness of the new rules remained remarkably low among retailers and consumers alike as the deadline approached. In another JTI survey, carried out one week before the ban took effect, more than half (52 percent) of participating U.K. retailers said they expected adult smokers to remain brand loyal within the RMC category; 31 percent believed their customers would switch to vaping or other reduced-risk products; 11 percent think they will switch to roll-your-own (RYO); and just 6 percent expect adult smokers to quit the category altogether. The results show a significant shift in thinking compared to JTI’s previous survey, with more retailers now believing that their customers will remain brand loyal within the RMC category and fewer assuming smokers will switch to vaping, RYO or quit.
Days before the ban entered into force, another poll, conducted for smokers advocacy group Forest, found that the lack of awareness of the ban also extended to consumers: Almost 40 percent of the more than 2,000 U.K. smokers surveyed were oblivious to the new rules. Only 16 percent believed that the ban would lead to a reduction in smoking prevalence whereas 46 percent of smokers thought that it would lead to an increase in illicit trade.
To educate stakeholders, leading tobacco companies created dedicated websites, which also included information about alternatives to menthol cigarettes and companies’ buyback schemes for unsold menthol cigarettes.

When Rizla Flavour Cards are left in a tobacco product pack for at least an hour, the contents will take on the flavor of the card.
Unwanted side effects
The justification for banning menthol cigarettes is that the minty taste masks the harshness of the inhaled tobacco smoke, which might make it easier for nonsmokers, including young people, to take up smoking.
The tobacco industry has long disputed that line of reasoning. “Peer pressure and parental influence are the main reasons for starting to smoke, according to studies, not menthol cigarettes,” says Namfua. “Study results do not support the claim that menthol smokers start smoking at a younger age. There is no sufficient evidence to support the claim that a prohibition of menthol tobacco products will affect smoking rates as campaigners suggest. Such a ban is therefore an unjustified restriction on adult consumer choice and sets a dangerous precedent for other products beyond the tobacco category.”
“Young people don’t start smoking because of menthol,” echoes Sensi-Minautier. “We do not believe the available science supports the idea that a menthol ban will reduce youth smoking or address the health impact of smoking more generally. Personally, I don’t believe that it will have more of an impact on smoking rates than plain packaging, which has had no effect.”
Canada, which prohibited menthol cigarettes in October 2017, provides a cautionary tale. Several of the country’s provinces already had menthol bans in place at the time of the nationwide rule. A study published this February by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the provincial menthol bans simply increased nonmenthol cigarette smoking among youths, leaving overall youth smoking rates unchanged.
While the menthol ban may not achieve the desired reduction in EU youth smoking, it may very well bring about unintended consequences. “We now have to wait and see how smokers will react, but based on previous bans, what we often see is a coinciding increase in illegal trade and a decrease in tax revenues,” Namfua points out. “Government revenues are jeopardized in case of a ban in any market with mentholated tobacco products, especially in places where a large part of existing smokers choose them, like Poland, for example, as they may look to illegal channels to buy their preferred flavors in [the] future. U.S. law enforcement agencies are publicly opposing a menthol ban due to worries of an increase in organized crime, which remains an important concern.”
If smokers of mentholated cigarettes switch to illegal channels, the impact on government revenues would be substantial. “Studies show that up to 25 percent of menthol smokers would buy cigarettes from the illegal market instead, meaning governments would lose millions,” says Namfua.
In Europe, he says, criminal gangs started taking advantage of the menthol ban even before it was implemented. U.K. law enforcement agencies began finding packs of counterfeit menthol cigarettes as early as October 2019—seven months before the ban.
“Any prohibition of a product may be a driver of illicit trade, but the situation might be more complex,” cautions Sensi-Minautier. “We need to be careful because we don’t know yet if current consumers of menthol cigarettes will consider menthol to be so important to them that they find an illicit source. It would also be interesting to see whether the criminal gangs will seize this opportunity to diversify.”

JTI has broadened its RRP portfolio, introducing a variety of new menthol flavors for its Logic e-cigarette brand and its Ploom tobacco vapor products, and outside of RRP, its Nordic Spirit nicotine pouches.
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

June 1, 2020
Firms Offer Alternatives After Menthol Ban

Photo: Imperial Brands
Tobacco companies are taking advantage of the U.K.’s ban on menthol cigarettes to promote alternative products, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Philip Morris reportedly described the ban, which began on May 20, as a “huge opportunity” for its business as the 1.3 million menthol smokers in the U.K. consider their options.
According to the bureau, Philip Morris in the runup to the ban hired sales reps to promote its menthol heated tobacco products directly to newsagents, one of the only legal ways it can advertise in the U.K. where almost all tobacco advertising is banned. It also offered promotional menthol kits and trials for new customers, with half-price tobacco sticks in any of its four menthol flavors.
Philip Morris’ competitors have also tried to turn the menthol ban into a sales opportunity. Japan Tobacco has launched a menthol cigarillo, Imperial Brands has designed a mint-infused card that flavors cigarettes with menthol, and British American Tobacco is marketing its mint-flavored vapes.

“The menthol ban is going to be bad news for a lot of smokers, who are going to find smoking less appealing, so it is a big opportunity for smokers to quit,” said John Britton, professor of epidemiology and director at the U.K. Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies at the University of Nottingham.
He said that tobacco companies will “want to minimize the numbers who quit and maximize the numbers who continue to buy products from them.”
May 26, 2020
‘Menthol Ban Presents Opportunity to Switch’

Photo: VPZ
U.K. vapor industry representatives are hoping that the EU ban on menthol cigarettes that comes into force today will encourage more smokers to transition to less-hazardous vapor products.
The ban of menthol cigarettes comes from the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), banning all cigarettes and rolling tobacco with “characterizing flavor” other than traditional tobacco.
The ban originates from a range of tobacco control measures approved by the European Parliament in 2013, with revisions including mandating the banning of menthol cigarettes by 2022.
In the U.K. there are an estimated 1.3 million menthol cigarette smokers.
Research by the U.K. Vaping Industry Association, the largest trade domestic body representing the sector, shows that menthol vapor products sold by its retail and wholesale members represent an average of 16.5 percent of all sales and nearly double this number, at 30.75 percent, for manufacturers producing such products.
The data suggests that menthol cigarettes are used by up to 12.4 percent of smokers in England, while global sales in 2018 exceeded $80bn. Currently, some 14.4 percent of the adult population in England smoke and there are some 7m smokers across the UK.

Doug Mutter
“I think in normal circumstances this move could have had the potential to significantly reduce smoking rates in the U.K.,” said Doug Mutter, director of manufacturing and compliance at VPZ, a leading vapor company in the U.K.
“However, with vaping stores closed and stop smoking services shut, it remains to be seen how we can engage menthol smokers and encourage them to make the switch.
“This is the biggest change to tobacco law since plain packing was introduced.
“For the vaping industry it presents an opportunity to help smokers finally make the switch, and whilst that will be harder with stores still closed, we believe that vaping presents the best opportunity to stamp out cigarettes for good.
“VPZ has built a digital platform for advice and guidance on smokers switching to vaping for the first time as well as how to pick the best products to help them quit.
“We are expecting a growth in the number of new vapers in the U.K, so it was important to us to use our expert staff to help create a guide for menthol smokers looking to quit through vaping.
“From which device best suits your needs to what strength of nicotine is required, we have tried to cover as many questions as possible. We have even put together some starter kits covering all categories to help with any first-time decision as we appreciate the first step can be daunting, without the opportunity to visit one of our stores.
“It will be difficult for many people just now because vape stores are closed and the temptation to go back to traditional cigarettes is everywhere. We are talking about over one million people in the UK will now not have their menthol cigarettes available and we hope that they are beginning to research which stop smoking products can best help them quit.
“Our message to smokers across the country is that the best time to quit cigarettes is now.”
May 20, 2020
Forest: Banning Menthol Will Not Stop Children Smoking

Simon Clark | Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The EU ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes will needlessly restrict adult smokers’ choices while doing little to prevent underage smoking, according to smokers’ rights group Forest.
Responding to claims by the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health that the ban on “child-friendly” menthol cigarettes is long overdue, Forest said there is no evidence that banning menthol cigarettes will stop children smoking.
“The ban on menthol cigarettes is a gross restriction on consumer choice that will do nothing to stop children smoking, said Simon Clark, director of Forest.
“Evidence from Canada, where menthol cigarettes were first banned in 2015, suggests that the ban had no overall impact on youth smoking rates because younger smokers simply switched to non-menthol cigarettes,” said Clark.
“Many adults have smoked menthol-flavored cigarettes for decades,” he added. “This week that small pleasure will be taken away from them and the only people who will benefit are the criminals who supply the black market with illegal and counterfeit goods.”
Menthol cigarettes will be banned in the European Union starting tomorrow.
The ban will also outlaw flavored cigarettes, skinny cigarettes and flavored rolling tobacco. The measure is part of the EU Tobacco Products Directive and aims to stop younger people from smoking as well as curb smoking rates among current smokers.
May 19, 2020