Experts say this tobacco product is a less harmful alternative

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has long recognised that smoking is one of the biggest global health problems, killing 8 million people a year and killing 1.3 billion people worldwide, according to WHO figures.

In response to the threat, many countries, including Hungary, have recently taken significant steps to reduce consumption, while many tobacco companies have decided to try to find alternative, less harmful solutions.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently ruled on the IQOS product developed by Philip Morris International (PMI), which was submitted in late 2016. It is a device that heats tobacco rather than burning it, creating a nicotine-containing vapour. The method produces fewer hazardous compounds than conventional tobacco products, as combustion involves higher temperatures, which releases a number of harmful substances, including carbon dioxide, in the smoke. Research to date suggests that IQOS use is not risk-free, but poses a modified health risk compared to smoking cigarettes.

Under the FDA's decision, IQOS is the first electronic nicotine-containing product that can be sold in the United States with a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) designation. The organisation says the device can improve public health because it is a different type of product than traditional cigarettes and is less harmful to adults who are unable to quit tobacco use. Current scientific evidence suggests that the use of IQOS is less harmful not only to consumers but also to the environment.

Data presented by the company has shown that disclosing this information can help adult smokers to switch from traditional cigarettes and thereby reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals, but only if they switch completely

- said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products. The agency's decision, of course, applies only to the US market.

According to the FDA, when a product is marketed in the US, it may be labeled as follows:

The IQOS system heats tobacco, not burns it.
It does not heat the smoke, it burns it, and it does not burn the smoke.
Scientific evidence shows that the body's exposure to harmful and potentially harmful substances is significantly reduced when people switch from traditional cigarettes to the IQOS system in its entirety.

"The FDA's decision is a historic milestone for public health. Although there are many of the tens of millions of American smokers who will put down cigarettes, there are many who will not. This decision will allow us to inform these adults that a complete switch to IQOS is a better choice than continuing to smoke cigarettes," said André Calantzopoulos, CEO of PMI. Calantzopoulos stressed that the best choice is still to never quit smoking or to quit as soon as possible, but for those who do not, smokeless products can be a less harmful alternative.

IQOS is the second product overall to be marketed as a modified-risk product and the first to receive a modified-risk rating in the United States. The latter means that the product contains less of an ingredient, or has lower emissions, or is completely free of an ingredient.