Tobacco Cos Defend Use Of Menthol In Cigarettes To FDA Panel

Officials from the top makers of menthol cigarettes defended their products Wednesday before a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel that is trying to determine whether the cigarettes' minty additive lures people into smoking and makes it harder for them to quit.

Representatives of Altria Group Inc. (MO), Lorillard Inc. (LO) and Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), citing public literature, told the panel that menthol cigarettes aren't more harmful than traditional cigarettes and don't induce people to smoke.

The industry officials spoke during the second day of a two-day meeting on the public-health effects of menthol in cigarettes. The panel is trying to help the FDA to determine how to regulate menthol cigarettes, which account for roughly one-third of the $70 billion U.S. cigarette market. The main issue is whether menthol cigarettes are different from traditional cigarettes, and, if so, should menthol be banned as other tobacco flavorings already are. The industry's stance, echoed by several company representatives, is that cigarettes containing menthol are no different and aren't more or less harmful than regular cigarettes.

"This isn't the tobacco industry's spin; the data is the data," said Jonathan D. Heck of Newport cigarette-maker Lorillard. Heck is one of three industry, non-voting members on the panel.

The industry avoided directly answering the most charged questions, including one from Patricia Nez Henderson, the panel's public representative, about whether menthol masks the harmful effects of smoking.

"We were here to talk about the scientific information," said James Dillard, a senior vice president at Altria, parent company of Marlboro cigarette maker Philip Morris. He added, "We're not in the best position today to talk about that."

Dillard said the industry would be willing to "entertain" all direct questions from the FDA in preparation for the next meeting of the panel, expected to be sometime in the summer.

Henderson also pressed a representative from Camel cigarettes maker RJ Reynolds on whether menthol is considered a flavoring.

"It is an ingredient by definition of the act and does have flavor," said RJR's Michael Ogden, referring to the tobacco act. "So, yes."

Most flavorings are already banned from being used in tobacco as part of tobacco legislation signed into law last year amid concerns that flavorings lure children to smoke. While menthol is considered a flavoring by many people, it avoided being banned by Congress.

Phillip Gardiner, of the University of California, who spoke during the public-hearing portion of the meeting, said he didn't understand why menthol wasn't outlawed. "There's no reason they shouldn't outlaw menthol; it's the same logic," he said. Menthol is derived from mint plants and many smokers say it helps to give cigarettes a soothing, minty-like flavor.

At Tuesday's hearing, panel members heard from multiple government health officials on the health effects of menthol, and much of the information was mixed.

An analyst from Concept Capital, summing up Tuesday's meeting in a note to investors, said: "We did not see a dagger to the heart of menthol revealed--at least not on day one."

-By Jared A. Favole, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9207; jared.favole@dowjones.com

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