Nat Sherman Co. letter clarifying company's cigarette brands comply with the FDA regulations..

October 7, 2009 - NEW YORK -- The Nat Sherman Co. has issued a letter clarifying which of the company's cigarette brands comply with the new U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, according to the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), which published a copy of the letter in its most recent E-News Bulletin.

The letter said:
"Regarding the FDA ban on characterizing flavors which went into effect on September 22, 2009.... The law bans both the manufacturing and sale of all flavored cigarettes (except for regular and menthol brands). This includes our Clove and Mint brand styles, but does not affect any of our other brands. In the last few weeks, we have been actively removing our Clove and Mint brands from the market place as many states have begun delisting them from their approved directories.

Consistent with our obligations as a responsible manufacturer, we have discontinued our 'A Touch of Cloves' and all our Mint brands styles. Concerning our 'Mint' brands, while many competitors use a synthetic menthol flavoring to treat the tobacco in their products, we have always remained true to our heritage as a manufacturer of only all-natural 100% additive-free cigarettes. Since menthol is derived from nature's own mint plant, our menthol-flavored cigarettes have always contained pure menthol crystals in our filters to impart a natural menthol flavor. And to differentiate our menthol products, we adopted the descriptor 'Mint.' Now, however, we have revised our packaging for these brands and changed the descriptor to 'Menthol.' Other than this slight name change, you can be assured the quality and enjoyment you and your adult customers have come to expect from these brands will continue to remain the same. Please note that both the UPC and product code will remain unchanged."

Click to read the full letter with a list of brands.

New York City-based Nat Sherman's all-natural brands of luxury cigarettes can be found in all 50 states and in more than 40 countries. It makes cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobaccos and tobacco accessories.

Reference: Nat Sherman Issues Letter on Flavors
Clarifies which of its cigarette brands comply with new FDA regulation, Convenience Store / Petroleum (CSP) Daily News, 10/5/2009.

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