The Food and Drug Administration is mulling over the safety and risks of dissolvable-tobacco products at a three-day meeting this week that gets underway today. Currently, there are just a handful of these kinds of products on the market, but others, including a lozenges and toothpick-like sticks bearing the Camel logo, are in development. (The Camel products currently being market tested in two U.S. cities.) The stuff looks a heck of a lot like candy—both in terms of the packaging and the products themselves—and word has it, the little suckers taste pretty darn good, too (i.e. nothing like tobacco).
In fact, people made a pretty big fuss back in 2010, saying the Camel products were dangerous because they looked too much like Tic-Tac mints and could cause confusion among kids. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which makes the Camel products, issued a statement saying it had taken the necessary steps to keep its products out of kids’ hands, including using child-resistant packaging and featuring labels that clearly state the tobacco content.
Another worry is accidental ingestion, resulting in nicotine poisoning. An April 2010 study in the journal Pediatrics showed that smokeless tobacco products are the second most common cause of nicotine poisoning in children, after cigarettes.
"If children are already ingesting cigarettes, we cannot doubt that they will ingest dissolvable tobacco that is specifically designed to taste good," Winickoff said. "Just because they smell like chocolate or mint and look safe, they contain nicotine and are potentially harmful for adolescents and could start a lifetime of nicotine addiction. Parents of young children need to be aware that these products have the potential to cause a serious overdose."
Mild symptoms of nicotine poisoning include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and headaches. Severe nicotine poisoning can lead to involuntary twitching, muscle paralysis, heart palpitations, seizures or death.
One milligram (mg) of nicotine can cause vomiting and diarrhea in a small child, according to the study. The Camel dissolvables contain between 0.6 mg and 3.1 mg of nicotine, depending on the product. Smokers inhale about 1 mg of nicotine in a typical cigarette.
When the Pediatrics study was released, Orbs manufacturer R.J. Reynolds stated that it had taken steps to prevent accidental ingestion of Camel dissolvable tobacco products by youth, including child-resistant packaging and educating poison control centers about the products and possible effects of accidental ingestion.
"The bottom line: Tobacco products, along with many other types of goods, need to be kept out of the hands of children," the statement concluded.
Now all eyes are on the FDA. The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the agency authority over the manufacture, distribution and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. Winickoff said he hopes the FDA will do whatever it can to keep these products away from children and teens.
In fact, people made a pretty big fuss back in 2010, saying the Camel products were dangerous because they looked too much like Tic-Tac mints and could cause confusion among kids. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which makes the Camel products, issued a statement saying it had taken the necessary steps to keep its products out of kids’ hands, including using child-resistant packaging and featuring labels that clearly state the tobacco content.
Another worry is accidental ingestion, resulting in nicotine poisoning. An April 2010 study in the journal Pediatrics showed that smokeless tobacco products are the second most common cause of nicotine poisoning in children, after cigarettes.
"If children are already ingesting cigarettes, we cannot doubt that they will ingest dissolvable tobacco that is specifically designed to taste good," Winickoff said. "Just because they smell like chocolate or mint and look safe, they contain nicotine and are potentially harmful for adolescents and could start a lifetime of nicotine addiction. Parents of young children need to be aware that these products have the potential to cause a serious overdose."
Mild symptoms of nicotine poisoning include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and headaches. Severe nicotine poisoning can lead to involuntary twitching, muscle paralysis, heart palpitations, seizures or death.
One milligram (mg) of nicotine can cause vomiting and diarrhea in a small child, according to the study. The Camel dissolvables contain between 0.6 mg and 3.1 mg of nicotine, depending on the product. Smokers inhale about 1 mg of nicotine in a typical cigarette.
When the Pediatrics study was released, Orbs manufacturer R.J. Reynolds stated that it had taken steps to prevent accidental ingestion of Camel dissolvable tobacco products by youth, including child-resistant packaging and educating poison control centers about the products and possible effects of accidental ingestion.
"The bottom line: Tobacco products, along with many other types of goods, need to be kept out of the hands of children," the statement concluded.
Now all eyes are on the FDA. The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the agency authority over the manufacture, distribution and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. Winickoff said he hopes the FDA will do whatever it can to keep these products away from children and teens.
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