Officials proposed limiting the amount of nicotine to make cigarettes less addictive, but it's unclear if the incoming administration will offer support.

Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center of Tobacco Products, said Wednesday that reducing the amount of nicotine in tobacco products to the levels proposed in the new rule should significantly reduce their addictive qualities, making it easier for individuals to quit.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a sweeping proposal Wednesday to try to make cigarettes less addictive by lowering the amount of nicotine they contain, an eleventh-hour plan from

Nicotine is the substance in cigarettes that makes them ... but the president's nominee to head Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has talked a lot about the prevalence of preventable chronic illness, including cardiovascular disease.

Manufacturers who use Red No. 3 in food will have until Jan. 15, 2027 to reformulate their products, while those who use the dye in drugs will have until Jan. 18, 2028, according to the FDA announcement. Food imported in the U.S. will also be required to comply with the new regulations.

Trump issued a flurry of executive orders and other actions on health care this week. Other than signaling he intends to reverse many of Biden's moves, the orders will have little immediate impact.

President-elect Donald Trump (R) announced author, lawyer, and 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his nominee for secretary of health and human services on November 14, 2024. This presidential appointment requires Senate confirmation.

History demonstrates that "prohibition doesn't end the demand for these products," said Neill Franklin, former director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership. The FDA proposal came about during the last days of the Biden administration.

FDA’s ban on Red 3 is a shot across the bow to the food sector that could ironically help facilitate Kennedy’s pursuit of further changes.

The FDA proposed a controversial rule that would limit the amount of nicotine in legal cigarettes to 0.07 milligrams in a move critics have said is effectively a ban.

The proposal in the waning days of the Biden administration leaves it up to President-elect Donald Trump to finalize the effort — or scrap it.

The secretary of Health and Human Services nominee wrote in an ethics agreement that he would keep receiving contingency fees.