On June 21st the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued nine new graphic warning labels that will appear on every pack of cigarettes and all cigarette advertising in the U.S. beginning on October 22, 2012. These new warning labels are required as part of the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act and represent the first new warning labels in almost 25 years. The new labels depict graphic images, including a picture of a man smoking through a tracheotomy hole in his throat and a horribly diseased lung, and will cover half the front and back of every pack and 20 percent of each large ad.

The FDA chose these nine images from 36 proposed pictures and the final images were selected after the agency reviewed various research and studies on the issue. Each of the new warning labels will include a quit smoking hotline number.

During a recent FDA conference call following the announcement, FDA officials indicated that distributors and retailers would have an unlimited sell-through period for cigarettes in inventory that do not have the new warning labels. This unlimited sell-through period is similar to the one that AWMA helped secure for cigarette packages that contained descriptors such as “light”, “ultra-light” etc.

For more information on the new FDA cigarette warning labels you may visit their Web site: http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/CigaretteWarningLabels/default.htm