Sugars and Sweeteners in Tobacco and Nicotine Products: Food and Drug Administration’s Regulatory Implications
Mary Rezk‐Hanna, Reinskje Talhout, Sven‐Eric Jordt
Abstract
For the 5th National Institute of Health Tobacco Regulatory Science meeting, we participated in a plenary session focused on sugars and sweeteners profiles in tobacco and nicotine products and their related toxicity and abuse liability implications. The meeting was organized by the Tobacco Regulatory Science Program, a partnership between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products. In this commentary, we wish to underscore the critical importance of this understudied topic and highlight potential regulatory implications for the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. While sugars are natural components of tobacco, tobacco companies manipulate consumers’ sensory perceptions of the true noxiousness of cigarette smoke during inhalation by adding various sugars, including glucose, fructose, and sucrose, up to 4% of a cigarette’s weight.1 Because these manipulations also apply to other products, in the absence of adequate regulation, substantial differences in sugar content, and profiles will continue to exist across tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, hookahs (ie waterpipes), electronic (e-) cigarettes, and smokeless products.