Tobacco firms 'sweetening cigarettes to hook the young'

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http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1777842.ece

 

Plum juice, maple syrup and honey added to appeal to adolescent smokers

By Roger Dobson

Published: 01 October 2006

Tobacco manufacturers are adding sugar and sweeteners in an effort to make

cigarettes smoother - in what is being branded a cynical attempt to lure young

smokers and turn them into addicts.

 

New research, published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, reveals

that some cigarette firms are using additives such as plum juice, maple syrup

and honey to make their products taste better.

 

But, according to scientists, the sweeteners increase the smokers' risk of

cancer.

 

The study looked at sweet additives put into cigarettes by five big tobacco

firms - British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company,

Gallaher, and Japan Tobacco International. The details come from the firms'

websites.

 

The researchers say the firms do this because " the addition of sugars in tobacco

can enhance tobacco use in at least two ways - neutralisation of the harsh taste

of cigarette smoke and generation of acetaldehyde, which increases the addictive

effect of nicotine... Moreover, the sweet taste and the agreeable smell of

caramelised sugar flavours are appreciated in particular by starting adolescent

smokers. "

 

According to the report, the amount of sugar found naturally in tobacco varies.

It depends on how the tobacco is cured, or dried. Boosting sugar levels, say the

researchers, makes the smoke more poisonous.

 

Deborah Arnott, director of Action on Smoking and Health, said: " We have great

concerns about the number of additives and ingredients added to cigarettes

trying to make them more palatable. " She added that the additives were a cynical

attempt by the tobacco companies to replace the customers they kill each year.

 

Chris Proctor, head of Science and Regulation at British American Tobacco,

confirmed that tobacco companies add sugar but denied this encourages young

people to smoke. " The style of cigarettes sold in the UK are overwhelmingly

Virginia-style. They typically do not have sugar added. Yet there seems to be no

difference between these style of cigarettes and the American-blended cigarettes

sold in most parts of Europe, which typically have added sugar, in terms of

health risks, numbers of young people smoking and quitting rates. "

 

HOW IT WORKS

 

Marlboro Red King Size cigarettes, from Philip Morris, one of the five firms in

the study, contain sweeteners including cocoa, carob bean and liquorice gum.

 

The taste of cocoa and liquorice, critics claim, is used to make cigarettes more

appealing to children. They also dilate the airways, allowing the smoke a deeper

passage into the lungs. Sweet additives mask the smell of smoke.