Swedish Match’s proposal to ease warning labels related to snus tobacco packaging has not been given a clearance by US FDA.
Snus is a cloth baggie with moist tobacco powder and has to be put under the upper lip by consumers to inhale nicotine.
The company wanted to remove the warnings from its packaging, claiming that there was not enough scientific evidence to support the belief that the product causes mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss.
The company had argued in the past that the snus is a safer alternative to cigarettes which catapulted it to become Sweden's predominant product.
However, the FDA panel that met on Friday voted against many of Swedish Match's claims, with some exceptions.
While the panel unanimously voted that there was not enough evidence to suggest that snus products do not pose risks to gum disease or tooth loss, its opinions were split on the question of whether snus products do not pose risks for oral cancer.
The panel saw three members voting in favour and three voting against it, whereas two abstained from the vote.
Swedish Match also wants to change the warning to "No tobacco product is safe, but this product presents substantially lower risks to health than cigarettes."
However, FDA also voted that this warning statement does not adequately communicate the potential health risks from using snus.
Smokeless tobacco is considered to be less dangerous than cigarettes as they come without toxic smoke. There are members within the public health community who believe that it is better for public health to push consumers towards lower nicotine-containing products or products that put less harmful chemicals in consumers' bodies.
