The FDA takes aim at menthol and other tobacco flavorings, but banning them might be tricky

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week announced plans to stem the increase in young Americans' use of tobacco and its primary psychoactive agent, nicotine.

The object of Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb's ire was flavorings - those minty, sweet, nutty or even salty flavors that cigarette and e-cigarette manufacturers add to their products to make them more enticing.

The prime market for those flavors, Gottlieb said, is no secret: While less than one-third of adults over 35 smoke menthol cigarettes, they are the choice of 54 percent of children too young to buy cigarettes legally but acknowledge that they smoke anyway.

3.6 million high school and middle school students surveyed in 2018 said they used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days - a 78 percent increase since 2017 that Gottlieb blamed on the enticement of flavorings like cola, chocolate, bubble gum and coffee