Federal government to change way of measuring for nicotine

WASHINGTON - The Federal Trade Commission announced plans yesterday to revamp its long-criticized system for measuring tar and nicotine in cigarettes to reflect the ways that people smoke.

Even though the new system - which would provide a range of nicotine and tar delivery per cigarette - would give smokers a better idea of what they're getting, the commission also proposed that companies warn consumers that lower ratings do not necessarily guarantee afer smoke.

"The amount of tar and nicotine that a smoker gets is going to vary based on how that cigarette is smoked," said Lee Peeler, the FTC's associate director for advertising practices. "It's not like calories in a cookie."

The FTC's test method was originally developed in 1967 to rank cigarettes, with hopes that brands lower in tar and nicotine would reduce health problems caused by smoking. In the intervening years, many consumers have come to believe that "light" and "ultra-light cigarettes" were safer than full-strength brands. (Generally, the term "low tar" means 7 to 15 milligrams per cigarette, and "ultra low tar" means 6 milligrams or less.)

However, a light cigarette smoker who puffs intensely or who covers the tiny vent holes on cigarette filters that dilute the smoke can get just as much nicotine and toxins as those who smoke full-strength cigarettes.

The commission's proposal also calls for mandated warnings in all cigarette advertisements that would explain the risks more fully. One potential notice would state:"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." Another would read: "How much tar and nicotine you get from a cigarette depends on how intensely you smoke it."

Peggy Carter, a spokesperson for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said Tuesday that the company had not yet had time to review the proposal, but had long recognized that smokers' habits affected nicotine and tar delivery. She compared the figures to the Environmental Protection Agency's car ratings: "If you're a leadfoot, you're not going to get the same gas mileage."

A leading tobacco researcher said yesterday that the FTC proposal did not go far enough to correct the many misimpressions that smokers have about the relative risk of light cigarettes. "Advertising stinks as a way to tell smokers about their cigarettes," said Pennsylvania State tobacco researcher Lynn T. Kozlowski.

Kozlowski noted that since the FTC rule would cover only advertisements, it would not affect smokers of low-cost, unadvertised generic brands - and added that few smokers actually absorb the tar and nicotine information found in any advertisements.

In an upcoming article for the Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, Kozlowski and colleagues report results of their survey of smokers about the tar and nicotine yield of their cigarettes. Despite the fact that current ads show nicotine and tar yields, the researchers found that only 13 percent of ultra-light smokers, 2 percent of light smokers and 1 percent of regular-strength smokers knew the correct tar yield of their brand.

Because of the tremendous variation in smoking habits, "The designations 'Light' and 'Ultra-light' should be considered substantially false and misleading," Kozlowski wrote. Two-thirds of those smokers who did not guess their yields said that they would look for the numbers on the cigarette pack - where the numbers cannot even be found.

"The irony is kind of rich that they don't even know that it isn't on the pack," Kozlowski said. "If they've held anything, day in and day out, it's a pack of cigarettes."

09-10-97