Altria to Stop Selling Some E-Cigarette Brands That Appeal to Youths

WASHINGTON — Under pressure to curb vaping among young people, the tobacco giant Altria announced on Thursday that it would discontinue most of its flavored e-cigarettes and stop selling some brands altogether.

The company also said, for the first time, that it would support federal legislation to raise the age to 21 for the purchase of any tobacco and vaping product.

The Food and Drug Administration launched a campaign earlier this year against the makers of e-cigarettes, including the blockbuster start-up Juul, as well as major tobacco companies, that were marketing their products in ways that appealed to teenagers. The agency issued warnings on Sept. 12 to several companies, giving them 60 days to prove they can keep their e-cigarette devices away from minors. It also warned 1,100 retailers to stop selling the devices to minors.

In addition, the agency conducted a surprise inspection of Juul’s headquarters in San Francisco, seizing boxes of documents related to the company’s marketing strategy.

In a letter to the F.D.A., Howard A. Willard III, chairman and chief executive of Altria Group, said he was alarmed at the epidemic levels of youth e-cigarette use, although he stopped short of saying that his company’s products contributed to it.

“Although we do not believe we have a current issue with youth access to or use of our pod-based products, we do not want to risk contributing to the issue,” Mr. Willard wrote.

He also said that e-cigarettes remain an important alternative for adults who want to stop smoking.

“The current situation with youth use of e-vapor products, left unchecked, has the potential to undermine that opportunity,” Mr. Willard said.

Altria’s move could pressure other e-cigarette makers, including Juul, the dominant seller of the devices, to withdraw some products. Altria has a tiny slice of the market, while Juul, with its sleek device that looks like a flash drive, now controls more than 70 percent of the market, and is valued by investors at $16 billion, according to Nielsen data.

“I think Altria will be happy to try to look like the good guy and let Juul take the heat,” said Desmond Jenson, a senior staff lawyer with the Public Health Law Center, based in Minnesota. “Juul selling well is actually to Altria’s benefit.

“There’s plenty of evidence that shows that e-cigarette use leads to combustible cigarette use among youth, and this year combustible use by high school students is up for the first time in 20 years,” he added. “So if Juul is getting kids hooked and they end up switching to Marlboro, Altria wins.”

Altria sells two types of vaping products through its Nu Mark subsidiary: the MarkTen and Green Smoke brand, which resemble traditional cigarettes, and the MarkTen Elite and Apex by MarkTen, which are larger and use an e-liquid pod inserted into a cartridge.

In its earnings call Tuesday, Altria said that 20 percent of its MarkTen and Green Smoke products feature flavors other than menthol, tobacco and mint. It plans to stop selling these flavors, which include Mardi Gras, Apple Cider and Strawberry Brulee. The company will continue to sell MarkTen and Green Smoke in menthol, tobacco and mint.

Altria has not given up completely on new flavors. In a note on the company’s website, Mr. Willard said he believes that flavors do help adults switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes, and that the company would introduce new ones with F.D.A. permission.

“We believe that pod-based products significantly contribute to the rise in youth use of e-vapor products,” Mr. Willard conceded in his letter to the F.D.A.

The flavor-based pods are not a significant part of the company’s e-cigarette portfolio at this point. The MarkTen Elite is sold in about 25,000 stores. The Apex is sold online in 10 states.

In a recent interview, the F.D.A. commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, said that while e-cigarettes may be a preferable alternative to combustible tobacco cigarettes, they are not risk free.

“Any time you inhale vape products, there is every reason to believe there are risks associated with it,” he said.

Dr. Gottlieb also noted that he was revisiting the use of menthol in certain products, which has been of particular concern in African-American communities targeted by makers of menthol cigarettes like Newport and Kools in years past. “It was a mistake for the agency to back away on menthol,” he said.

The F.D.A. is also moving on other fronts that threaten the tobacco industry. In response to a legal ruling, the agency said last month it would speed up release of new, graphic package warnings ordered years ago by Congress. It is also proposing to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes, rendering them nonaddictive.

Among Altria’s other concerns is F.D.A. approval of IQOS, the penlike electronic device developed by Philip Morris International, which the company says heats tobacco sticks but does not burn them. Although Philip Morris has applied for approval, Altria would distribute the device in the United States.

A federal advisory committee in January recommended that the F.D.A. reject a bid to allow the product to be sold as safer than traditional cigarettes. The agency has not yet made a final decision on whether the product can be sold as a reduced harm product, or at all.

Altria has also recently stepped up its political donations. On Sept. 19, the tobacco company made its largest contribution of the year, $150,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a so-called Super Pac aimed at electing Republicans to the House of Representatives, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political spending. Last year, Altria gave the organization a total of $82,930.

F.D.A. spokesman Michael Felberbaum said that the agency appreciated any voluntary steps that companies were taking to address youth access and appeal of e-cigarettes, and would be taking additional action shortly.

Becky Wexler, a spokeswoman for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, was not impressed by the tobacco company’s move.

“Altria’s announcement makes them look good, but it will have little practical impact given their very small share of the pod e-cigarette market,” Ms. Wexler said. “It is not a substitute for mandatory F.D.A. rules that apply to all e-cigarette manufacturers, including a ban on flavors that attract kids and enforcement of the requirement for F.D.A. review before new products go on the market.”