FTC proposes cigarette tar, nicotine testing changes

(Updates with Tobacco Institute declining comment, 13 graf)
WASHINGTON (Reuter) Federal regulators Tuesday
proposed changing how tar and nicotine levels in cigarettes are
measured and reported to reflect more accurately the varying
ways people smoke.
``We now know that the way a person smokes affects the
amount of tar and nicotine they get. The present system doesn't
reflect this,'' said Jodie Bernstein, director of the Federal
Trade Commission's consumer protection bureau.
``We hope that this proposal will provide consumers with
better information about what they're getting from their
cigarettes. Consumers also should know that there is no such
thing as a safe cigarette,'' she added.
The proposed system would produce a range of potential
yields for each cigarette, rather than the single number
produced under the existing method.
Critics charge that the single number is misleading,
especially in the case of ``light'' and ``ultralight brands''
that consumers may think are safer.
The FTC said research indicates that many smokers who switch
to cigarettes with lower tar and nicotine levels tend to take
larger and more frequent puffs than are reflected in the
existing FTC test method.
The stronger puffs are intended to satisfy a smoker's need
for nicotine, the agency said.
The new ratings, as the current ones are now, would be
disclosed by cigarette makers in their advertising.
The proposed system also is intended to address regulators'
concerns that consumers may fail to understand that the amount
of tar and nicotine they get depends in part on how a cigarette
is smoked.
In addition to changes in the test method, the FTC also
proposed two potential disclosures for cigarette advertising:
``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.''
``How much tar and nicotine you get from a cigarette
depends on how intensely you smoke.''
Representatives of the Tobacco Institute, an industry group,
declined to comment.
The current FTC test method was developed to obtain uniform
data about tar and nicotine yields from cigarettes smoked under
standaridzed conditions.
The program, which began in 1967, was intended to give
smokers seeking to switch to lowertar cigarettes a single,
standardized measurement on which to base their choice among
existing brands.
The FTC said its existing test parameters a twosecond,
35milliliter puff every minute would be retained to reflect
lessintensive smoking behavior.
A second set of parameteres a twosecond, 55milliliter
puff every 30 seconds would be added to reflect smoking under
more intensive conditions.
The FTC began looking at changes in its testing methods two
years ago after a National Cancer Institute panel said that most
consumers ``misunderstand'' tar and nicotine figures as they are
now presented.

^REUTER@