FDA blocking tobacco sales

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking to crack down on retailers that sell tobacco to children.

Following a series of sting operations, the FDA wants to prohibit eight retail stores around the country from selling tobacco products after they were repeatedly caught selling to minors.

This is the first no-tobacco-sale order the FDA has ever initiated.

“Retailers are the first line of defense in preventing the illegal sale of harmful and addictive products like cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to youth. These enforcement actions will send a powerful message to all retailers that there are real consequences for repeatedly violating the law,” Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement.

{mosads}The FDA is ramping up enforcement as it looks to prevent youth smoking. According to the agency, an estimated 4.6 million middle- and high-school students smoked in 2014, and each day another 2,600 children try their first cigarette.

The no-tobacco-sale order is being issued against Thais Mini Market and C-Town Supermarket in New Jersey; Yemco Fuel, Kat Party Store and Family Food Market in Detroit; Horizon Enterprises in Chicago; Mon-Jan Corp., in Baltimore; and MFA Oil Company in Missouri.

These retailers will be prohibited from selling any tobacco products for 30 days after they were caught breaking the law at least five times over the last three years.

The FDA has conducted more than 508,000 surprise inspections over the years, and issued tens of thousands of warning letters and fines to retail stores that sell tobacco to minors. But this is the first time the FDA has taken steps to block a store from selling any tobacco products, including to adults. 

The FDA plans to hold more surprise inspections of these stores during this 30-day period to make sure they are not selling tobacco products.

This story was updated on Oct. 30 at 11:57 a.m.