U.S. Smokeless Pulls Request for Ad Claim

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. has withdrawn a request asking the government to say whether it is OK to state in ads that its products are safer than cigarettes.

In a letter to the agency last week, the nation’s largest maker of moist snuff said it does not want the Federal Trade Commission to weigh in now because new information is likely to emerge from two tobacco conferences scheduled for September and October in Europe.

Some health advocates say the company was worried the agency would disallow the claims.

The U.S. surgeon general issued a report in 1986 saying smokeless tobacco products can cause cancer.

Congress subsequently passed a law stating that such products must be sold with health warnings.

U.S. Smokeless is a subsidiary of UST Inc. UST’s shares fell 59 cents to $33.37 on the NYSE. Its leading brands are Copenhagen and Skoal.