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| S P E C I A L | Tobacco Under Attack |
FTC proposes change in tar, nicotine testing for cigarettes
'There is no such thing as a safe smoke'
September 9, 1997
Web posted at: 11:31 p.m. EDT (0331 GMT)In this story:
WASHINGTON (Reuter) -- The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it wants to change the way tar and nicotine levels are measured in cigarettes to reflect more accurately the way people smoke.
CNN's Jeff Levine reports
2 min., 6 sec. VXtreme streaming video
"We now know that the way a person smokes affects the amount of tar and nicotine they get," said Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. "The present system doesn't reflect this."
"We hope that this proposal will provide consumers with better information about what they're getting from their cigarettes," she said. "Consumers also should know that there is no such thing as a safe cigarette."
The proposed change would produce a range of potential yields for each cigarette, rather than the single number produced under the existing method. Critics say that the single number is misleading, especially in the case of "light" and "ultralight brands" that consumers may think are safer.
The change was prompted by research from the National Cancer Institute which found that many smokers who switch to low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes often take longer drags or more frequent puffs to fulfill their nicotine cravings.
"The old test substantially understates what many smokers would get," Bernstein said. "Not what all smokers would get, but high intensity smokers."
Industry group declines comment
The FTC wants to ensure that consumers understand that the amount of tar and nicotine they get depends in part on how they smoke.
The FTC also wants to see two additional disclosures added to cigarette advertising.
One would say: "There's no such thing as a safe smoke. Even cigarettes with low ratings can give you high amounts of tar and nicotine. It depends on how you smoke."
The other: "How much tar and nicotine you get from a cigarette depends on how intensely you smoke."
"We believe that there are many consumers who believe that they will be smoking safely if they get a low-tar and low-nicotine cigarette," Bernstein said.
Representatives of the Tobacco Institute, an industry group, declined to comment Tuesday. But a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has said previously that "testing in a lab can't replicate human behavior."
The current FTC test method was developed to obtain uniform data about tar and nicotine yields from cigarettes smoked under standardized conditions.
Testing began in 1967
The program, which began in 1967, was intended to give smokers seeking to switch to lower-tar cigarettes a single, standardized measurement on which to base their choice among existing brands.
The FTC said its existing test parameters -- a two-second, 35-milliliter puff every minute -- would be retained to reflect less-intensive smoking behavior. A second set of parameters -- a two-second, 55-milliliter puff every 30 seconds -- would be added to reflect smoking under more intensive conditions.
Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is not impressed by the proposal. "If consumers believe this fixes the system and gives them meaningful information about their health risks, we may well have taken a step backward, no matter how well-meaning the FTC is," he said.
Critics also say the plan is flawed because the FTC tests only advertised brands. Millions of smokers, they say, smoke generic cigarettes, the tar and nicotine content of which is unknown.
The FTC is accepting public comment on the proposal until November 17.
Correspondent Jeff Levine and Reuters contributed to this report.
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