(REUTERS) Star Scientific developing tobacco lozenge
Star Scientific developing tobacco lozenge
By Brad Dorfman
NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - Upstart tobacco company Star
Scientific Inc. <STSI.O> is hoping smokers will swallow the
idea of getting their nicotine in a lozenge.
The company is developing a smokeless hard tobacco product
that it calls a "cigalett" for use in places where smoking is
restricted.
The company said Friday that it would introduce the
product, which contains tobacco mixed with eucalyptus an mint
flavorings, under the name Ariva. A spokeswoman could not say
when the product would be launched.
Chester, Virginia-based Star said it has reached an
agreement giving Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. exclusive
rights to sell the lozenges under its own brand. Star plans to
sell the lozenges under the Ariva brand. B&W, a unit of British
American Tobacco Plc <BATS.L>, is the No. 3 U.S. cigarette
maker.
Ariva will be the first hard smokeless tobacco product
developed in the U.S. that is "both taste-acceptable and
responsive to the needs of adult smokers who want an
alternative to cigarettes in the many smoke-free environments
they confront on a daily basis," Paul Perito, Star chairman and
president, said.
Star said Ariva contains less of the cancer-causing toxins,
TSNAs, than conventional smokeless tobacco products, but a
spokeswoman acknowledged that there is no empirical evidence
that reducing the toxins lowers the risk of cancer.
Ariva, which is about the size of a Tic-Tac mint, would
contain at least 60 percent tobacco. A recent Supreme Court
ruling on tobacco regulation could prohibit the Food and Drug
Administration from regulating the lozenges.
NOTE: This is not the whole release, check it out yourself. There was more than one release today. |
