Government health advisers have serious reservations about a proposal by Swedish Match to market its smokeless tobacco pouches as less harmful than cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The company is seeking Food and Drug Administration permission to remove or revise several warning labels on the pouches, called snus. It's the first formal request the FDA has considered publicly since it gained authority to regulate tobacco products in 2009.
But a panel of FDA advisers said overwhelmingly today that company data do not support several key changes.
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The eight-member panel voted unanimously that the company's application does not show that snus lack the same risks of gum diseases and tooth loss as other smokeless tobacco products.
Swedish Match has asked the FDA to drop those warnings from its US offerings, including brands such as Longhorn, Timber Wolf and General snus.
Snus are teabag-like pouches or loose tobacco that users stick between their cheek and gum to absorb nicotine.
They are popular in Scandinavian countries and are part of a growing smokeless tobacco market in the US Swedish Match holds about 9 per cent of the US market, which is dominated by Richmond, Virginia-based Altria, parent company of Phillip Morris.
Swedish Match also wants the FDA to certify new language that its snus have "substantially lower risks to health than cigarettes."
The company points to studies showing that snus are not associated with lung cancer, lung disease and other ailments tied to cigarettes.
But panelists said the company's language oversimplifies the issue, since some snus users also smoke, exposing themselves to negative health effects from both products.
Panelists voted unanimously that the company's language does not adequately describe the health risks of snus, including pregnancy complications such as early delivery and stillbirth.
