22nd Century, a plant biotechnology company, filed a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) application with US tobacco regulators for a cigarette packed with what the company says is the world’s lowest nicotine tobacco.

22nd Century wants to sell the product with packaging and marketing that informs consumers the cigarette almost no nicotine (less than 0.6 mg per cigarette with a less than 0.05 mg nicotine yield), the company said. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows the MRTP category, but has yet to grant reduced risk status to a tobacco product.
“Unlike so-called ‘light’ or ‘ultra-light cigarettes, which terms are not banned by the FDA from labeling and marketing in the United States, 22nd Century’s proprietary Brand A cigarettes are designed to deliver greatly reduced ratios of nicotine to other smoke components,” the company said. The FDA application was filed by Goodrich Tobacco Company, a 22nd Century subsidiary.