Smoking causes bad breath, regardless of what the label does (or doesn't) say

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a series of cigarette package warning labels that list cancer, addiction, lung damage and death as potential side effects of smoking. bad breath is not mentioned, although it may be implied in at least one of the labels' photos.

These warning labels will be mandatory on all cigarette packages sold in the U.S. starting in 2012, according to NPR. The FDA's Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said that these photos are part of an aggressive new campaign, passed almost unanimously in Congress, to promote abstention from smoking.

The photos depict, among other things, a man smoking through a tracheotomy hole in his neck, a pair of blackened lungs and a mouth full of rotted teeth and sores.

While none of the labels included the words "halitosis" or "bad breath," the latter photo of a mouth essentially implies them. Smoking is a prime cause of oral odor, but individuals who have difficulty quitting may at least use BLIS K12 oral care probiotics to gradually improve the scent of their breath.

Could cigarette packs mention halitosis someday? Maybe. According to the Southwest Florida News-Press, packs in Uruguay carry labels stating unequivocally that "smoking causes bad breath."