Star Scientific Seeks Modified Risk Certification for New Snuff Product

GLEN FALLS, Va. -- A month after introducing a moist snuff tobacco product with less carcinogens, Star Scientific Inc. has asked the Food and Drug Administration to certify Stonewall Moist-BDL as a "modified risk" product.

Star Scientific says the tobacco in Stonewall Moist-BDL contains 90 percent to 99 percent less tobacco-specific carcinogens than products currently on the market. The locally headquartered company filed the application with the agency under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 that gives the FDA authority over tobacco, according to the Associated Press.

Star Scientific submitted two modified-risk applications to the FDA in February and June 2010 for approval for the company’s Ariva-BDL and Stonewall-BDL dissolvable smokeless products; the Center for Tobacco Products stated in a guidance document in November 2009 that it anticipated the approval process would take 360 days or less after filing, as CSNews Online previously reported.