A report by the US Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has found that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must take a stronger stance against retailers selling tobacco products to children, reports CNN.

The report says that the FDA does not scrutinize repeat violators enough and also that the agency has focused on sellers in disadvantaged neighborhoods, reports CNN. The OIG went on to say that the FDA should work in alliance with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in order to combat online sales to children.
The FDA was given the ability to regulate the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of tobacco by Congress in 2009. Since then, inspections have been an important tool and the FDA has carried out over one million inspections on the lookout for underage sales. According to CNN, the agency inspected about 74 per cent of the 360,000 stores that sell tobacco products in the US at least once. The report states that around 10 per cent of inspected stores between 2019 and 2020 were guilt of violations which in most cases saw the FDA issue a warning letter. The FDA can also fine repeat offenders, however, not all retailers end up paying the fine in full, according to the OIG report.
It argues that even with inspections being carried out, youth tobacco use remains “a high public health concern” with more than 3 million high school and middle school students saying they had used a tobacco product in the previous month, according to a 2022 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
The FDA responded to the report by agreeing with the issue of disproportionately focusing on disadvantaged neighborhoods and said it would meet with staff and subject matter experts by December to decide how to better address and achieve health equity, reports CNN.