Tobacco In Candy Form, Hazardous For Children

By Priya Devi

Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 14:38

The dissolvable nicotine pellets is a product of tobacco company, which look like popular candies. They can cause accidental nicotine poisoning in children, say the new studies.

The candy-like products like Camel Orbs, can impress young generation and lead to nicotine addiction. They are categorized as tobacco products, looking like candy rather than a cigarette and play recklessly with the health of children. The promotional literature of such products contains 1 mg nicotine per pellet. Small children will experience nausea and vomiting with a small quantity as 1 mg of nicotine.

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco company which provide Camel Orbs, has also introduced Camel Strips which contain 0.6 mg nicotine per strip and Sticks containing 3.1 nicotine per strip. They show that the product is as a temporary form of nicotine for the smokers in settings where smoking is banned. They are also flavoured with cinnamon or mint.

So these products can affect the potential public health which could be disastrous especially for infants and adolescents, say the experts. The ingestion of tobacco products by teens and children is already a major reason for calls to the worldwide poison control centres.

R.J. Reynolds claims that Orbs packaging is "child resistant", but the researchers say adults could unknowingly leave the pellets out in the open where children could easily access them.
The researchers also say that the candy-like appearance and flavouring and ease-of-use of the product could appeal to children.

The study appears in the journal Paediatrics on April 19th, 2010.

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