Article Text
PDF
Abstract
Introduction On 29 April 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intention to prohibit menthol as a characterising flavour in cigarettes.
Methods We assessed the changes in cigarette sales associated with the FDA’s announcement using interrupted time series analysis based on monthly retail point-of-sale data on cigarettes from the NielsenIQ Local Trade Area (LTA) data from September 2019 to April 2022. Main outcome variables included LTA-level monthly menthol and non-menthol cigarette sales per 1000-persons.
Results Monthly cigarette sales were declining before the FDA’s announcement (menthol vs non-menthol: −1.68 (95% CI −1.92, −1.45) vs −3.14 (95% CI −3.33, −2.96) packs per 1000-persons). Monthly menthol cigarette sales increased immediately in May 2021 after the FDA’s announcement by 6.44 packs per 1000-persons (95% CI 3.83, 9.05). Analysis stratified by LTA-level racial/ethnic compositions showed that LTAs with a relatively higher proportion of non-Hispanic Black population (>8.94%) experienced higher spike in menthol cigarette sales in May 2021 immediately after the announcement and higher post-announcement 12-month menthol cigarette sales than expected.
Conclusions Areas with a relatively higher proportion of non-Hispanic Black population are potentially at risk of experiencing increased burden of menthol cigarette consumption. Targeted community level cessation support in non-Hispanic Black majority areas may help mitigate the growing burden of menthol cigarette smoking and improve health equity. The findings of this study also suggest that FDA’s prompt finalisation and enforcement of such ban may help avoid extending the increased burden of menthol cigarette consumptions in non-Hispanic Black majority areas.
- Public policy
- Disparities
- Surveillance and monitoring
Data availability statement
The NeilsenIQ LTA data were provided to the authors under an agreement with the Nielsen Consumer, LLC and are not publicly available. The authors are not authorised to share the underlying data without permission from the Nielsen Consumer, LLC.
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Data availability statement
The NeilsenIQ LTA data were provided to the authors under an agreement with the Nielsen Consumer, LLC and are not publicly available. The authors are not authorised to share the underlying data without permission from the Nielsen Consumer, LLC.
Footnotes
Twitter @samasares2
Contributors ZX and NN contributed to the conception of the work. ZX has full access to all the data in this study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the data analysis. Concept and design: ZX and NN. Acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data: ZX, CO, SA and NN. Drafting of the manuscript: ZX and NN. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors. Statistical analysis: ZX. Administrative, technical or material support: ZX, CO, SA and NN. Supervision: NN.
Funding The NielsenIQ LTA data were purchased by the American Cancer Society, Inc.
Competing interests All authors are employed by the American Cancer Society, Inc. at the time of the study, which receives grants from private and corporate foundations, including foundations associated with companies in the health sector for research outside of the submitted work. The authors are not funded by or key personnel for any of these grants. NN has received subawards from the University of Illinois Chicago through a grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies, outside of the submitted work. The remaining salaries of NN and the salaries of ZX, CO, SA, PB, and MP were funded solely through American Cancer Society funds.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Author note The authors’ own analyses and calculations based in part on data reported by NielsenIQ through its ScanTrack Service for the tobacco category for the one-week period ending April 2022, for the US market and Convenience and eXtended All Other Channels (xAOC). Copyright © 2022, Nielsen Consumer LLC (NielsenIQ). The conclusions drawn from the NielsenIQ data are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of NielsenIQ. NielsenIQ is not responsible for and had no role in, was not involved in analysing and preparing the results reported herein.
Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.