WASHINGTON — U.S. health regulators have questions about the data submitted by tobacco maker Swedish Match in its bid to become the first company to market a smokeless tobacco product as less harmful than cigarettes.
Food and Drug Administration scientists say they have “concerns” about how the company studied its snus tobacco product and its proposal to modify cancer warning language on the packaging.
Snus are teabag-like pouches of loose tobacco that users stick between their cheek and gum to absorb nicotine. They are popular in Scandinavian countries and are part of a growing smokeless tobacco market in the U.S.
The FDA has scheduled a two-day meeting to review Swedish Match’s data intended to show that snus do not carry the same risks of mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss as other tobacco products.
In an application filed in June, Swedish Match proposed a new warning emphasizing that snus are less risky than smoking: “No tobacco product is safe but this product presents substantially lower risks to health than cigarettes.”
