WHO experts group recommends banning menthol in tobacco products

WHO experts group recommends banning menthol in tobacco products

Menthol is a widely used flavoring additive in cigarettes and other tobacco products. It is characterized by a minty flavor and cooling effect that reduces the irritation a smoker feels when smoking. An Advisory Note prepared by the World Health Organization Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation summarizes evidence on the use and health effects of menthol in tobacco products from three seminal reports from the United States and Europe and from 64 new peer-reviewed studies that were published after those reports were issued. The Advisory Note also offers recommendations for policymakers grounded in the Note’s evidence-based conclusions.

Key Findings and Conclusions

• Menthol cigarette smoking rates differ among countries.
  • A 2012 report of 52 countries found that the market share of menthol cigarettes in the Philippines and Singapore approached 50 percent, and more than 15 percent in other 12 countries (including India, Nigeria, Peru, and Thailand).
• Menthol cigarette smoking rates are higher among some populations of smokers, including youth and young adults, women, and ethnic minorities.
  • A preference for menthol cigarettes is increasing among younger smokers in New Zealand and the United States, although the rate has fallen in Australia.
  • Most adolescent smokers in the United States smoke menthol cigarettes.
  • Evidence from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, the United Kingdom and United States indicates that women or girls smoke menthol cigarettes more than men or boys.
  • Menthol cigarette smoking rates are higher among racial and ethnic minorities in Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Marketing contributes to the greater use of menthol cigarettes by youth, women and some other populations, with tailored advertising and non-traditional products such as cigarettes with menthol capsules.
• Consistent with marketing themes and the sensory effects of menthol, smokers in all countries for which there is data have positive perceptions about menthol cigarettes, such as their “smoothness” or “mildness” and their perceived health benefits or reduced health risks.
• Menthol cigarettes promote experimentation and progression to regular use more than non-menthol cigarettes among youth.
• Adolescent menthol cigarette smokers are more dependent than smokers of non-menthol cigarettes.
• The rates of quit intentions among menthol cigarette smokers are similar to or higher than rates among non-menthol cigarette smokers, but menthol cigarette smokers have less success quitting.
• Brazil, five provinces in Canada, Ethiopia, the European Union, and Turkey have passed laws to ban menthol in tobacco products.

Key Recommendations

• In accordance with the partial guidelines for Articles 9 and 10 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control:
  • Menthol – including its analogues, precursors, and derivatives – should be banned from cigarettes.
  • Countries should consider banning menthol in other tobacco products. 
  • Where menthol bans have not been implemented, countries should: 1) educate the public about the negative effects of menthol in cigarettes; 2) ensure that menthol plays no part in tobacco promotion; and 3) seek stakeholder support for banning menthol.

Full citation:World Health Organization Advisory note: banning menthol in tobacco products: WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg), Geneva (2016).

Full text [English only] available from:http://www.who.int/tobacco/publications/prod_regulation/menthol-advisory-note/en/

For a fact sheet on how additives make tobacco products more addictive and more attractive [Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish] see:http://global.tobaccofreekids.org/files/pdfs/en/additives_en.pdf

The World Health Organization is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system.

If you have questions about the report or how you may use it in your advocacy efforts, please contact globalresearch@tobaccofreekids.org

additives, menthol, world health organization