FDA to Create 12-Person Tobacco Advisory Panel

The Food and Drug Administration will create a 12-person advisory panel to guide the agency as it gears up to regulate the tobacco industry. It will advise the FDA on sensitive issues including the impact of menthol in cigarettes, the use of descriptors such as "light" on tobacco packages, and the marketing of smokeless tobacco.

The agency is seeking nominations for the panel members. Eight of the members will be experts in medicine, medical ethics science and tobacco technology, according to a press release from the FDA. Three members from the industry, who won't have voting power, will be taken from small and large tobacco manufacturing companies and tobacco farmers. There will be one person from the general public on the panel.