Vanilla flavoured ‘condom pants’ get approval by health chiefs to stop spread of STIs

THE FIRST pair of knickers that women can receive oral sex through have been approved for use in the US.

The latex undies are ultra-thin, single-use and even come in vanilla flavour.

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They come in either “bikini or shortie” styles and cost $5 each.

Lorals “Protection” pants were granted approval from the drug regulators at the FDA yesterday, making them medical devises.

The LA-based start up company claims that a woman can still feel pleasure through the thin material. 

On the surface, it may appear as a barrier to intimacy. 

But they have in fact been designed to block the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

STIs such as gonorrhoea, herpes and sphyhpills are spread through skin-to-skin contact, such as oral sex.

Women can use a dental dam – a small square piece of latex – to cover the their genitals or anus while recieving oral sex.

They can also be fashioned from condoms, with instructions provided by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the experts at Lorals say dental dams are “awkward” to use and “reinvented” the device. 

Dental dams do not always protect against herpes and pubic lice or herpes, which can be caught from skin outside of the vulval area.

It is not clear if Lorals for Protection do – but the knickers cover the whole nether region and prevent all fluid leakage.

Lorals also states that research has found 80 per cent of women report saying no to oral when they really wanted to say yes.

Women are most likely to turn down oral because they’re concerned about hygiene or menstruation.

They also say no due to their shower schedule, bathroom visits, or grooming habits – but Lorals can “solve these problems”.

On Thursday, the company will begin selling the underwear explicitly for infection protection.

Courtney Lias, director of the FDA office that led the review of the underwear, told the Financial Times: “The FDA’s authorization of this product gives people another option to protect against STIs during oral sex.”

“Oral sex is not totally risk-free,” Dr Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said.

There’s growing need for such protection because more “teenagers are initiating their first sexual activity with oral sex,” she said.

The products may also make life easier for people who carry herpes, who are told to wear a dental dam or condom if they engage in oral sex.

People with herpes can have a normal sex life, but have to careful with their partner to avoid passing it on.