Kroger to help smoke out youth tobacco sales

JACKSON, Miss. Kroger, the United States' largest grocery chain, is partnering with Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, along with the Attorneys General of 40 other states and Guam to help prevent the sale of tobacco products to minors, Hood announced Tuesday.

Kroger has agreed to implement a comprehensive program designed to prevent youth access to tobacco in its stores. Steps the company is taken to curb tobacco include providing annual notices of the importance of complying with youth access laws, requiring franchisees to report violations to the corporate office and modifying franchise agreements to provide that violations of youth access laws could constitute grounds for termination or non-renewal of the franchise agreement.

“My colleagues and I have long recognized that youth access to tobacco products is a serious issue,” said Hood. “This agreement with Kroger demonstrates a growing commitment to restrict such access and to protect our nation’s children.”

Kroger is the 11th company to sign an "Assurance of Voluntary Compliance" agreement produced by an ongoing, multi-state enforcement effort. Other retailers who have entered into similar partnerships include 7-Eleven, CVS, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Rite Aid.

Launched in 2000, the multi-state enforcement effort by the Attorneys General seeks to secure national retailers’ agreement to take specific corrective actions to prevent sales of tobacco products to minors. State laws prohibit such sales. The agreements incorporate "best practices" to reduce sales to minors, developed by the Attorneys General in consultation with researchers and state and federal tobacco control officials