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FDA tells company to stop sale of tobacco products

Screen Shot 2014-02-21 at 12.19.22 PMRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Federal regulators are ordering a company that sells hand-rolled cigarettes called bidis to pull them from store shelves.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday ordered Jash International to stop selling four Sutra-branded products.

It’s the first time the agency has ordered products to be removed from shelves under a 2009 law that gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco.

That authority includes reviewing applications for new cigarette and smokeless tobacco products.

A 2012 Associated Press review found that the agency hadn’t ruled on thousands of those applications for more than a year. The industry expected a 90-day process.

The vast majority of those awaiting review are for products already being sold in the U.S. and can be removed from shelves if they don’t pass muster with the agency.

 

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