"All the great gains that we've made in this country, reducing smoking rates ... all of that will be reversed or lost if we can't address the youth use of e-cigarettes."

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is planning a crackdown on sales of e-cigarettes — a story that broke on Thursday — and he sat down exclusively with POLITICO to talk about why the agency is making such a dramatic move.

Gottlieb joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss his infamous "almonds don't lactate" comment and other nutrition news (starts at the 6:00 mark), explain his concerns about e-cigarettes and tease the FDA's pending crackdown (14:45), answer questions about the Trump administration's approach to science and vaccines (30:30), discuss FDA's new approach to approving opioids (35:30) and explain why the FDA's drug importation working group has been so low-profile (38:30).

And stick around for the lightning round of questions about Gottlieb's job, which starts at 42:30.

But first, POLITICO's Sarah Owermohle joins the podcast to put the e-cigarette news in context (starts at the 1:45 mark).

MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST

Gottlieb's infamous "an almond doesn't lactate" line at the POLITICO Pro summit.

TV host Stephen Colbert touting "An Almond Doesn't Lacate" line of t-shirts.

The FDA and Department of Agriculture's turf battle over lab-grown meat.

Gottlieb's reported plan to crack down on sales of e-cigarettes.

The fight over fetal tissue research inside HHS pitting "pro-life against pro-science."

Concerns about President Trump's inaccurate comments about vaccines.

FDA's formation of a working group to look at drug importation.

Gottlieb's announcement of a new approach to opioid approvals.

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