LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Tobacco stocks tumbled on Wall Street after US regulators announced new restrictions on flavoured electronic cigarettes and potential bans on menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars.
In an effort to combat youth access to nicotine-containing products, the US Food & Drug Administration on Thursday said that only tobacco, mint and menthol e-cigarette flavours of can sold by retailers.

Other sweet-flavours will only be able sold at age-restricted stores or through online merchants that use heightened age-verification checks.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb suggested that he could also ban mint and menthol flavours if evidence shows that youth use of mint or menthol e-cigarettes does not decline.

"I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes," Gottlieb said.

The FDA also said its plans to push forward on bans for menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars next year, Gottlieb added, saying the agency "should be able to move with some added efficiency."

New York-listed shares in the UK's British American Tobacco fell more than 3% on Thursday, while Altria was down 1.7%.

The FDA has been pursuing a move against e-cigarettes in recent months as Gottlieb said youth vaping levels reach "epidemic proportions".

Last month the FDA sent letters to 21 manufacturers of electronic cigarettes, including BAT's Reynolds American arm and Imperial Brands' Fontem Ventures, as it sought information to assess whether the products are being marketed illegally.

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