The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday banned cigarettes with fruit, candy or clove flavors.

Authorized by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act enacted in June, the ban represents an effort to reduce an easy entry point for youth into smoking and tobacco addiction. Some cigarette makers favored and others opposed giving the FDA this new authority.

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., the government says.

The FDA also is considering bans on menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco.


“Almost 90% of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers. These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg. “The FDA will utilize regulatory authority to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products.”

The FDA said studies have shown that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over age 25.

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jerry.hirsch@latimes.com