Study Says New Tobacco Products May Accidentally Draw Kids

New types of smokeless tobacco products like the "Camel Orbs" being tested by Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) could accidentally draw young children because of their candy-like appearance, researchers said in the Pediatrics journal Monday.

Unintentional ingestion of tobacco products is a major reason for infant and child toxic exposures reported to poison-control centers throughout the nation, the article says. The Camel Orbs product named in the article was launched by Reynolds American unit R.J. Reynolds in the first quarter of 2009 and the orbs are small pellets made of finely milled tobacco and contain nicotine.

Smokeless tobacco products have become increasingly important to the sales of the U.S. tobacco industry. Americans are smoking fewer cigarettes amid bans on smoking in public places and other factors.

A Reynolds spokesman countered that the Camel Orbs products are made for adult tobacco users, sales are age restricted, they carry the same warning as any other smokeless tobacco products and they are sold in child resistant packaging. Reynolds maintains that accidental ingestion of tobacco products isn't a major reason for infant and child toxic exposures reported to poison-control centers.

The published piece in the Pediatrics journal suggests that public health authorities study such products to determine the appropriate regulatory approach. Gregory Connolly, director of the tobacco control research program at the Harvard School of Public Health, was the lead author of the study.

Other tobacco industry critics have had similar concerns. The Food and Drug Administration was recently given powers to regulate the tobacco industry and its approach to such products will be closely watched.

-By Anjali Cordeiro, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2200; anjali.cordeiro@dowjones.com

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