Northerner Relaunch

[mattzq8sonoma]

My initial comment did mention that I agree with the FDA's attitude towards adding candy type flavours ... and it is clear that several of you fundamentally disagree with that point of view whether it is due to political principles ... or just that you like girly flavours ... I'm quite cool with that.

However - the main point I was making was that; given the FDA has this approach and that everyone knew that it did ... it was a misjudgement of Jakobsson's to endanger their entry of the US marketplace by putting forward such a blatantly flavoured snus in the current climate!

I think the problem is not that it got rejected because of the flavoring. The FDA SE process says the products must have been sold over-the-counter in the US in 2007 or before in order to be grandfathered. Their snus has been available online for a long-time, but only over-the-counter in the last couple of years. They're just making them quit selling it over the counter because their SE applications are still pending, so they're not legally allowed to sell their snus over-the-counter. Honestly, the FDA is pretty slow on this stuff, because it takes them quite a while to make any decisions and quite frankly Gotlandssnus/Jakobsson's should've had their over-the-counter sales shut down a long time ago. To be honest, Swedish Match, Altria, RJ Reynolds, Lorillard & Swisher combined have like 8000 SE submissions that are pending, and have been pending for over 3 years (supposed to be a 90 day process). Lorillard had 4 cigarette SE's approved by the FDA, probably because they started the litigation process to sue the FDA for loss of sales. Swedish Match had 8 Moist Snuff SE submissions approved back in June. So all tobacco companies are waiting and waiting and waiting on the FDA to approve things, and allow us to make wanted or needed changes.

I think Jakobsson's just jumped the gun, hoping a small scale launch would go unnoticed. It did for awhile. Their snus should be available online, as long as that retailer has it in stock. This sales ban is for over-the-counter only. I've never seen it over-the-counter before, so this probably doesn't affect any of us.

[resnor]

Wait...ALL Jakobssons will be pulled from over the counter sales in the U.S.?

F*** me.

[resnor]

I'd like to point out, also, I have never heard of a brick and mortar shop in the U.S. selling Jaks Melon. Only mint, wintergreen, and classic.

[mattzq8sonoma]

Wait...ALL Jakobssons will be pulled from over the counter sales in the U.S.?

F*** me.

I was incorrect in what I said. Jakobsson's Melon Strong is the only one they are ceasing. I guess I was seeing the 6 discontinued snus's and thinking that meant those were the ones that were being shut down. Jakobsson's Snus that's flavored substantially the same as the Grandfathered Gotlandsnus products are OK for brick-and-mortar sales. As other's pointed out earlier, it is either the flavor or the nicotine content in the "Strong" that they are not allowing. I guess there was either not a Gotlandsnus Strong portion in the US before 2007, or no Melon flavored snus then. I'm not sure about that. I do know the FDA SE submission process says that flavor's can't change significantly, and tobacco constituents can't change more than like +10%. They like lower constituent #'s but not higher...including nicotine, TSNA's, and other harmful constituents.

Sorry for the confusion...it probably IS the flavor that's being rejected. I doubt it's because of potentially attracting minors to snus....probably just because they didn't actually have a Melon Snus, under any brand, available back in 2007 and that doesn't fit under the FDA substantial equivalence.

[resnor]

Isn't the substantial equivalence not simply referring to a similar snus, but tobacco product in general? It seems crazy that we can have Skoal Apple, Skoal Berry, Skoal Citrus, and Skoal Peach dip, all for sale in the U.S., but we can't have Jakobsson's melon. I would also love to be able to buy Skruf los snus in the U.S. over the counter.

I so hate the FDA.

[resnor]

Where is RickCharles??? lol

[alopezg1]

better hide the captain wanky