The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the marketing of three new tobacco-flavored heated tobacco products from Phillip Morris. These newly authorized products include Marlboro Sienna HeatSticks, Marlboro Bronze HeatSticks, and Marlboro Amber HeatSticks.
These heated tobacco products (HTPs) can all be used with the electronic device known as IQOS which heats tobacco-filled sticks that are wrapped in paper. Once heated, the sticks generate a nicotine-based aerosol. According to the FDA, these products were authorized after it was determined that “the net population-level benefits to adult smokers outweigh the risks to youth.”
The FDA was quick to point out that authorization does not mean it views these products as being safe or “FDA Approved.”
“All tobacco products are harmful; however, different tobacco products pose varying levels of health risk to users, with combustible tobacco products being the most harmful. There are no safe tobacco products, so those who do not currently use tobacco products, especially young people, should not start,” the agency wrote in a press release announcing the authorization.
