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FDA tobacco chief speaks at industry meeting
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — The head of the Food and Drug Administration’s tobacco control efforts says changes in the marketplace have forced the public health community to grapple with the idea that some products are less harmful than others. Mitch Zeller spoke Thursday at the Tobacco Merchants Association meeting in Williamsburg. He became director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products in March.
Zeller said the agency is aware that certain products could reduce individual health risks. But he said the 2009 law giving the agency authority to regulate the industry requires that it measure health effects at a population level.
He also said the agency is making progress on its product application backlog, how it plans to address menthol cigarettes and its plans to regulate other tobacco products like cigars and electronic cigarettes.