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Flavored Tobacco Products WHAT TYPES OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS ARE FLAVORED? Flavored tobacco products include cigars, chewing tobacco, blunt wraps, electronic cigarettes and shisha, the tobacco used in hookah. These products help the tobacco industry get around the FDA’s 2009 ban of flavored cigarettes.1 Flavored tobacco products are often sold in attractive packaging for a low price. Some cigars are frequently available for less than $1. WHAT ARE SOME COMMON FLAVORS USED IN TOBACCO PRODUCTS? Cigars, chewing tobacco, blunt wraps, electronic cigarettes and shisha are sold in fruit, candy, dessert and novelty flavors. Popular flavors include chocolate, piña colada, apple, grape, berry, cotton candy, bubble gum, wintergreen and menthol. The same flavorings used in tobacco products are also used in candy and Kool-Aid drink mixes.2 These flavorings were often present in higher amounts in tobacco products than in candy. WHO USES FLAVORED TOBACCO PRODUCTS? Because of their sweet flavors, low cost and attractive packaging, flavored tobacco products are especially appealing to youth. Young people are much more likely to use flavored tobacco products than adults.3 A recent CDC study found that 42 percent of middle and high school tobacco users use flavored products.4 Studies show that young people perceive flavored tobacco products as tasting better and being safer than unflavored products, even though they are just as dangerous and addictive as cigarettes.5 These pineapple-flavored cigars are cheap and easily accessible to youth. Swisher Sweets come in flavors such as grape, strawberry and chocolate. Smokeless and spit tobacco are available in flavors such as cherry and wintergreen. The tobacco industry’s own internal documents state sweet products are “…for younger people, beginner cigarette smokers, teenagers…when you feel like a smoke, you want to be reminded of bubble gum.”8 WHAT CAN COMMUNITIES DO ABOUT FLAVORED PRODUCTS? Flavored tobacco products are a major public health concern because they encourage young people to start using tobacco. While the FDA banned flavored cigarettes other than menthol in 2009, the ban does not affect other tobacco products, many of which are now heavily marketed by the tobacco industry. The use of these products, especially among young people, has spiked. Because the FDA ruling does not prevent local communities from banning other types of flavored tobacco products, state and local governments can adopt laws that restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products within their jurisdiction. Limiting the sale of products, setting a minimum price or creating a minimum pack size are some of the ways communities can protect their youth by making flavored tobacco products less accessible and less appealing. “Cherry Skoal is for somebody who likes the taste of candy, if you know what I am saying.” U.S. Tobacco Executive