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No two smokers smoke cigarettes exactly the same way. The tar and nicotine yield numbers that are reported for cigarette brands are not meant (and were never intended) to communicate the precise amount of tar or nicotine inhaled by any individual smoker from any particular cigarette. These numbers come from standardized testing methods, which compare different brands when "smoked" by a machine under identical laboratory conditions. As regulators have said since their introduction, these tests - including those developed in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the International Standards Organization (ISO) - show the relative differences in yields among brands, assuming that each brand is held and smoked the same way as it is in the machine. Please click the links on the right for more information about testing methods.
It is reported that some consumers believe that their cigarette delivers exactly the amount of tar and nicotine from each cigarette that the test reports. The FTC has told smokers that "in looking at 'tar' and nicotine numbers, you need to know that the amount of 'tar' and nicotine you get will vary significantly depending on how you smoke the cigarettes." For more details about claims that some smokers have misunderstood those numbers, please click the links on the right.
"The amount of tar and nicotine you'll inhale will vary depending on how you smoke."
Ruth Dempsey, Chief Scientist, Scientific Product Assessment
Using the tar numbers as a reference point, we describe some of our brands with terms such as "light" and "ultra light". However, these brand descriptors, like the reported numbers themselves, have never indicated precisely how much tar or nicotine a particular smoker will inhale at any given time. Although we believe that descriptors serve as useful points of comparison for cigarette brands regarding characteristics such as strength of taste and reported tar yield, we do not imply in our marketing, and smokers should not assume, that "light" or "ultra light" brands are "safe," or are "safer" than full-flavor brands. In fact, the World Health Organization reports that switching to lower tar products offers no significant health benefits. Please follow the links on the right for more information on public health community views on lower-tar cigarettes, including the FTC's 1998 press release stating "there is no such thing as a safe smoke". Our use of brand descriptors is discussed in more detail below.
An additional word for smokers who may be interested in obtaining less tar and nicotine from their cigarettes: It is claimed that smokers "compensate" for the reduced tar and nicotine yields of some brands by smoking them differently than smokers of higher yield brands. For example, they may take more or larger puffs, smoke more of the cigarette or block ventilation holes that contribute to the lower reported yields of some brands. Generally speaking, the more intensely a smoker smokes a cigarette, the more tar and nicotine he or she will inhale from that cigarette. If you are interested in reading more about smokers' "compensation" and how it could affect your intake of tar and nicotine, please click the relevant links on the right.
Machine tests of tar and nicotine yields
Cigarette companies measure average per cigarette yields of tar and nicotine by following standardized machine testing methods. For example, the U.S. companies follow the method that was developed in cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1967, and has historically been referred to as the "FTC method". In many other countries around the world, a similar method developed by the International Standards Organization is utilized. These methods compare the tar and nicotine yields of different brands of cigarettes when smoked by a machine under identical laboratory conditions, and indicate their relative differences in yields.
However, the machine tests "smoke" each brand in the same manner. For example, in the FTC method, the machine takes one two-second puff, of a specific volume (35 milliliters) of smoke, each minute, and the test requires that the cigarette be inserted to a specified depth on the cigarette filter. Other methods employ similar parameters.
These machine methods were never intended to reflect what and how smokers actually inhale. Indeed, in 1967 when FTC announced the completion of its trial tests of the current method, it stated that "[n]o test can precisely duplicate conditions of actual human smoking and, within fairly wide limits, no one method can be said to be either 'right' or 'wrong' - the purpose of testing is not to determine the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled by any human smoker, but rather to determine the amount of tar and nicotine generated when a cigarette is smoked by machine in accordance with the prescribed method." The link on the right will take you to the FTC's 1967 press release describing the limitations of standardized machine tests.
In 1997, FTC proposed revisions to its test method, and is currently reevaluating it and developing specific recommendations on its future. Please click the link on the right to read the introduction to 1998 tobacco industry comments about the U.S. machine test method.
In light of these limitations, smokers should not assume that the machine test numbers printed in the packages or advertisements for their preferred brand indicate with precision the actual amount of tar and nicotine that they will inhale from any particular cigarette. In addition, they should not assume that these numbers indicate with precision the relative amount of tar and nicotine that they will inhale from their preferred brand of cigarettes, as compared to any other brand.
Philip Morris's use of brand descriptors
Philip Morris frequently describes cigarette brands using terms such as "full flavor", "light" and "ultra light". These terms are commonly referred to as "descriptors", and facilitate consumers' ability to distinguish among different product offerings.
Descriptors are generally used as a point of comparison (with respect to attributes such as strength of taste and flavor, and tar/nicotine yield as measured by a machine method) for a cigarette brand in a particular country in order to distinguish it from other brands on the market in that country. Smokers should not assume that brand descriptors such as "light" or "ultra light" indicate with precision either the actual amount of tar and nicotine that they will inhale from any particular cigarette, or the relative amount as compared to competing cigarette brands. Some researchers report that consumers who smoke "light" cigarettes inhale as much tar and nicotine as from full-flavor brands. For more information on this issue, please click the links on the right.
Philip Morris does not imply in its marketing, and smokers should not assume, that lower-yielding brands are "safe", or are "safer" than full-flavor brands. Health warnings are required on all of our brands, irrespective of their tar and nicotine yields. The FTC has recently stated that "if consumers are concerned about the health effects of smoking cigarettes they should stop smoking. Simply put, there is no such thing as a safe smoke". The Commission also reiterates that "[t]he National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated in comments that new data suggests that the limited health benefits, previously believed to be associated with lower tar and nicotine cigarettes, may not exist."
For more information about this subject, please follow the links on the right.
It is important to remember that, as of today, there is no cigarette on the market which the public health community endorses as offering "reduced risk," and it continues to be the case that, if smokers are concerned about the risks of smoking, quitting is by far their best alternative for reducing those risks.
However, because smokers have varying preferences, Philip Morris offers products with differing yields of tar and nicotine, as measured by one of the machine methods. We believe that it is appropriate to continue to differentiate our brands on this basis, and that descriptors such as "light" and "ultra light" help communicate these differences to adult smokers.
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