FDA Comment Period on Menthol/Flavors Ends with Nearly 250,000 Comments

[From the Public Health Law Center]On August 2, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration officially closed the period when the public could submit comments on its two proposed commercial tobacco standard rules to ban menthol in cigarettes and to ban characterizing flavors in cigars. Hundreds of thousands of public health and medical organizations, researchers, scientists, advocates, and others submitted public comments since the FDA published these rules on May 4, 2022. In fact, the FDA received nearly 250,000 comments on the two proposed rules combined, including approximately 175,000 for the menthol cigarettes proposed rule and approximately 71,000 for the flavored cigars proposed rule.

The Public Health Law Center submitted three comments on the proposed rules: two on the menthol cigarette standard – a substantive comment and a comment featuring case studies of four jurisdictions that have adopted menthol tobacco sales restrictions; and a substantive comment on the flavored cigar standard. The many strong public contributions to the docket include comments from the Center for Black Health and Equity and the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Truth Initiative, and a coalition of more than 100 groups.

The FDA is required to review and consider each submitted comment before drafting final rules. Please visit the Center's Federal Tobacco Action Center for more information about the proposed rules, the public comment process, and the disproportionate impact of menthol tobacco products on communities of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and low-income populations.

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