April 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug

Administration on Thursday said it had issued warning letters

and filed civil money penalty complaints against retailers

engaged in underage sale of various flavors of ZYN nicotine

pouches.

The FDA said it had issued 119 warning letters to

brick-and-mortar retailers and had filed 41 civil money penalty

complaints seeking more than $55,000 in total for underage sales

of flavored ZYN nicotine pouches, including espressino, black

cherry, lemon spritz, and cucumber lime.

ZYN nicotine pouches are manufactured by Swedish Match,

which is owned by Marlboro maker Philip Morris International ( PM )

. PMI claims that the pouches do not contain tobacco and

are inherently smoke-free.

PMI did not immediately respond for a request for comment.

The FDA said it was illegal for any retailer to sell any

tobacco product - including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars,

and nicotine pouches - to anyone under the age of 21. The agency

added that nicotine pouches were a type of tobacco product.

"There is no excuse for selling tobacco products to any

underage person, and FDA will hold retailers accountable for

those violations-especially those who continue to do so after

being warned," said Brian King, director of the FDA's Center for

Tobacco Products.

New tobacco products to be legally marketed in the United

States must receive an authorization, the FDA said, adding that

to date, it had authorized only four oral tobacco products.

As of April, the FDA had not authorized any ZYN product for

sale in the United States, it said.