A Marlboro cigarette.
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Altria, Marlboro’s father, asks the Food and Drug Administration to help him spread the word that nicotine does not cause cancer.
Bloomberg News said it reviewed a letter Altria sent to the FDA asking for help from the agency to get the message out about nicotine as part of a proposed advertising campaign about the risks of tobacco use.
“We have received the letter and will respond directly to the company,” FDA spokeswoman Alison Hunt told CNBC by email. Altria was not immediately available for comment on the matter.
In the letter, Altria reportedly cited government studies on misperceptions around nicotine and said the move would be crucial in helping traditional smokers transition to non-combustible nicotine methods.
While the vast majority of Altria’s revenue comes from the sale of cigarettes and cigars, it also has a stake in the Juul company, a brand of nicotine bags On! and markets IQOS, a smokeless tobacco product that heats tobacco instead of burning it in the US
There are at least 60 carcinogens in cigarette smoke, but these newer products provide nicotine without burning it. As a regulator of Altria, the FDA can determine what claims it can make about its products.
The FDA has allowed Altria to market IQOS because it provides users with less exposure to harmful chemicals than cigarette smoke.
Nicotine is the addictive ingredient in tobacco and can have other negative impacts. The article cites studies that have shown that nicotine can interfere with brain development and birth outcomes, and act as an agricultural poison in large doses.
Read the full Bloomberg story here.