The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the first menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes for adult smokers, acknowledging that vaping flavors can reduce the harms of traditional tobacco smoking. The FDA said it authorized four menthol e-cigarettes from Njoy, the vaping brand recently acquired by tobacco giant Altria , which also sells Marlboro cigarettes. "This decision could mean we'll never be able to close the Pandora's box of the youth vaping epidemic," said Meredith Berkman, co-founder of Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes. Njoy is one of only three companies that previously received FDA's OK for vaping products. Altria's data showed Njoy e-cigarettes helped smokers reduce their exposure to the harmful chemicals in traditional cigarettes, the FDA said.

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Persons: Meredith Berkman, Vaping, —, vaping, Vuse, Matthew Farrelly Organizations: Drug Administration, FDA, Marlboro, Parents, Nielsen, Reynolds American, FDA's Center for Tobacco Products Locations: U.S