(CNN) — Menthol cigarettes may end up fading away like smoke.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to unveil a rule that would ban menthol from being used in the production of cigarettes.
Officials say this is a necessary step to help protect public health.
Nearly 19-million people smoke menthol cigarettes and according to the FDA, most of them are minorities.
The FDA says taking menthol out of cigarettes could result in saving 650-thousand premature deaths over the next four decades.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says overall smoking rates hit an all-time low in 2018... but they add smoking is still the top cause of preventable death.
