Cigarettes flavored with fruit, candy or cloves became illegal in the United States on Tuesday under a new law aimed at cutting down on smoking, especially among children, officials said.

    "These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," said the Food and Drug Administration （FDA） Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, announcing the ban.

    The vast majority of adult smokers taking up the habit as teens, and are more attracted to flavored cigarettes and tobacco products than to unflavored ones, according to the FDA, which is also mulling over regulating menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes, the agency said.

    According to the federal food and drug watchdog, studies have shown that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25.

    "Flavored cigarettes attract and allure kids into lifetime addiction," said Assistant Secretary of Health Howard Koh in a statement.

    "FDA's ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily," Koh said.

    Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

    美國相關機構于本周二頒布一項新令，規(guī)定將禁止生產(chǎn)和銷售果味、糖味和丁香味的香煙，該舉旨在減少人們的吸煙量，尤其是青少年吸煙。

    宣布該禁令的美國食品和藥物管理局局長瑪格麗特？漢伯格說："這些帶味道的香煙讓很多小孩和年輕人淪為煙民。"

    據(jù)美國食品和藥物管理局介紹，絕大多數(shù)成年吸煙者都是在青少年時期染上這一惡習，而且相比起那些沒有味道的香煙和煙草產(chǎn)品，他們更喜歡有味道的。該機構稱，他們還考慮控制薄荷味香煙和除香煙以外的帶香味的煙草產(chǎn)品。

    據(jù)該監(jiān)管部門稱，此前有研究顯示，17歲的吸煙者吸食帶香味的香煙的幾率為25歲以上吸煙者的三倍。

    美國衛(wèi)生和公共服務部的衛(wèi)生助理部長高京柱在一份聲明中說："帶香味的香煙會引誘兒童上癮。"

    高京柱說："食品和藥物管理局頒布的有關這類香煙的禁令能打破這一循環(huán)，現(xiàn)在美國每天有3600多個年輕人開始吸煙。"

    在美國，吸煙是造成可避免的死亡病例的第一大原因。