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• To the FDA, This Indonesian Smoke Is Close but No Cigar  

the FDA reminded the public that its ban applies to anything that fits a cigarette's profile, even if it's labeled as a "cigar." And the House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced an investigation to find out whether the "flavored cigars are no different than flavored cigarettes."

Immediately, Kretek International Inc., the closely held importer in Moorpark, Calif., sued the FDA, accusing it of "deliberately obfuscating" the "definition of cigarette." . . .

"If a product is a cigar, it is not a cigarette and vice versa," says its complaint. "Kretek contends that Djarum cigars are cigars."

The company has asked the U.S. District Court in Washington for a declaratory cigar-is-a-cigar judgment. The FDA declines comment and has yet to file a response. Without legal guidance, meanwhile, America's clove-conscious now have to judge for themselves whether Djarum's new cigars, deep down, are concealing an alter ego.

At the Indonesian restaurant he owns here in Alexandria, Sonny Setiantoko passed one under his nose. "That smell!" he said.

On a quiet Monday night, he sat at a rear table after a spicy meal of satay and coconut rice.

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