
Cigarette makers are using synthetic menthol substitutes in what appears to be an effort to skirt a looming federal menthol ban, researchers say. The menthol flavor appeals to younger and newer smokers, according to investigators at Duke Health in Durham, N.C., and Yale University in New Haven, Conn. These new “non-menthol” cigarettes are being introduced in states that have already banned actual menthol in advance of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration ban later this year. In studying these “non-menthol” products, researchers identified new compounds that achieve cooling sensations similar to menthol. “We found that tobacco companies are adding a synthetic cooling agent called WS-3 to these new ‘non-menthol’ cigarettes,” said senior author Sven-Eric Jordt, an associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine. “The added amounts are sufficient to produce robust cooling sensations, with some brands having more cooling activity than their menthol equivalent cigarettes,” he said in a university news release California and Massachusetts have already banned menthol cigarettes. After California’s December 2022 ban, RJ Reynolds and ITG introduced non-menthol cigarettes with packaging and marketing strategies similar to those of menthol products. Lead author Sairam Jabba, a senior research scientist at Duke, measured whether cigarettes purchased in the two states with bans contained chemicals that activate the cold/menthol receptor. “We found that four of the non-menthol cigarette products, all manufactured by RJ Reynolds,… read on > read on >