Smoking Break

Cigarette Packs to Have Graphic Photos

FDA mandates strong cancer warnings.

It’s a far cry from Joe Camel. The Food and Drug Administration announced a plan Wednesday to require cigarette packs to feature images of the health consequences of smoking, including photographs of dead bodies, cancer patients, and diseased lungs. One label illustrates the warning “Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease” with a picture of the feet of a dead body in a morgue. The Health and Human Services Department called the labels “the most significant change in more than 25 years” in cigarette advertising. The warnings are part of a series of new measures designed to reduce smoking. Others include the restriction of the terms “light,” “low,” and “mild,” and a ban on fruit- and candy-flavored cigarettes. The new warning requirement will go into effect on September 22, 2012.