Four major cigarette brands are no longer being sold in the United States after an order by the Food and Drug Administration. The four brands, all marketed by the RJ Reynolds Tobacco company, are a follows: Camel Crush Bold, Pall Mall Deep Set Recessed Filter, Pall Mall Deep Set Recessed Filter Menthol and Vantage Tech 13.
The four brands failed to meet requirements outlined in the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
“These decisions were based on a rigorous, science-based review designed to protect the public from the harms caused by tobacco use,” said Mitch Zeller, J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products., in a statement.“The agency will continue to review product submissions and exercise its legal authority and consumer protection duty to remove products from the market when they fail to meet the public health bar set forth under law.”
In a statement provided to Fortune, Jeffery S. Gentry, Ph.D., executive vice president of operations and chief scientific officer for R.J. Reynolds said:
We believe that our substantial equivalent applications fully satisfied the guidance the agency provided, and we respectfully disagree with their evaluations of the products in question. We supplied the agency with extensive information on each of the products, and responded to all of the agency’s questions. Our product stewardship process is rigorous and ensures that we are producing the highest quality products that meet regulatory requirements.
Our submissions to the agency on these brands were comprehensive and we believe we effectively demonstrated substantial equivalence. We’re examining all of our options at this time.