US health officials on Wednesday proposed a series of bolder warnings on cigarette packs that will include color graphics to warn of the damage smoking can do, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The FDA will accept public comments through January 9, 2011 before choosing "nine new larger and more noticeable textual warning statements and color graphic images depicting the negative health consequences of smoking," it said.
By October 2012 the new warnings will be mandatory on all cigarette packs distributed in the United States and in all cigarette advertisements.
"Today, FDA takes a crucial step toward reducing the tremendous toll of illness and death caused by tobacco use by proposing to dramatically change how cigarette packages and advertising look in this country," said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.
"When the rule takes effect, the health consequences of smoking will be obvious every time someone picks up a pack of cigarettes."
Currently, the standard warning on cigarette packs in the United States is found in small print along the side of the box: "Surgeon General's warning: cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide."
A total of 443,000 people die in the United States each year due to tobacco use, making it the leading cause of premature and preventable death, the FDA said.
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