U.S. says companies violating flavored-cigarette ban

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U.S. regulators have warned more than a dozen websites that officials said were violating a recent ban on sales of clove, strawberry and other flavored cigarettes, letters released today showed.

The Food and Drug Administration told Clove Cigarettes Shop, Durango Smoke Shop Inc. and the others to immediately stop marketing the products or bring them into compliance with the law. The agency released 14 letters to the companies or website operators.

In September, the FDA banned cigarettes with candy, spice or fruit flavors such as grape, clove, strawberry and chocolate that can appeal to children. The move was required by a June law that gave the FDA sweeping powers over the tobacco industry. A major aim of the law is to prevent youth from smoking and developing a lifetime habit. Menthol cigarettes are not subject to the ban. Failure to comply with the flavor ban could lead to product seizures or injunctions, the FDA said.

“These actions should send a clear message to those who continue to break the law that FDA will take necessary actions to protect our children from initiating tobacco use,” Dr. Lawrence Deyton, head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement.

Jim Callahan, owner of Durango Smoke Shop, said his company had stopped selling flavored cigarettes as soon as the ban took effect. He said he realized after receiving the FDA letter, dated Nov. 3, that the products remained listed on his store’s website. Callahan said he ordered the flavored products removed from the site.

“We’re in full compliance with the FDA rules,” he said.

The FDA said the letters were the result of Internet searches by staff who scoured websites for violators.

-- Reuters

File photos: Flavored cigarettes are on display at a tobacco store in Richmond, Va.Credit: AP.