Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brand and Japan Tobacco are accused of falsifying the actual levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide found in their cigarettes. A deception already denounced in Switzerland and the Netherlands, where criminal proceedings have been initiated.
After the “Dieselgate”, the “Filtergate”. Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brand and Japan Tobacco are accused of falsifying the actual levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide in their cigarettes. The National Committee Against Smoking (CNTC) has filed a complaint with the public prosecutor for “deliberate endangerment of the person of others”, revealed The world. Indeed, the real tar content would be “between two and ten times higher than that indicated (on the packages editor’s note) and five times higher for nicotine”, specifies the complaint. In summary, the levels of these substances displayed on the packages are much lower than reality.
An ingenious process
The filters of the majority of cigarettes would be pierced with micro-perforations imperceptible to the naked eye. According to the CNCT, this system, initially used to modulate the taste of cigarettes, can also be used to distort official test results.
These micro-orifices allow dilution of the smoke when the tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels are measured with a regulatory smoking machine. On the other hand, when the cigarette is consumed, the lips and the fingers of the smoker would block the micro-perforations, which is worth to him to inhale levels of nicotine and tars higher than those displayed on his packet. Specifically, the levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide that enter the lungs of some smokers are said to be between two to ten times higher than they think.
But as the daily recalls, the historian of science Robert Proctor already evoked in 2014 filters with holes in his book Golden Holocaust: the tobacco industry conspiracy, with pierced filters. In addition, these revelations, if they have the effect of an electric shock to consumers, are not new.
A “deception” already denounced in several countries
This process is in fact known to tobacco companies. Once the taste of the cigarette is defined, it is possible to vary the potency and reduce the smoke content. In particular by modifying the filter with micro-perforations, by adjusting the length, the fineness of the fibers or the density. The paper that surrounds the tobacco and the filter can also be adjusted.
Each brand uses its own technique but today “97% of cigarettes have invisible perforations in the filter” which are not there to act on the taste, but on the tests, according to the CNCT. This process has been around since the 1950s, when the United States tightened regulations on cigarettes. In Switzerland in 1982, Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds have taken their competitor British American Tobacco to court for having put up for sale a cigarette said to be low in nicotine and tar. They explained to the judge on May 6, 1983 that the results of the tests could not be trusted: “If the indications appearing on the packaging of the Barclay cigarette are correct when the cigarette is tested by means of a standardized machine, these results are totally different when the Barclay cigarette is smoked by a human mouth. ” They also evoke according to France Info, “four peripheral channels with which the filter is provided”.
The CNCT specified in a press release that criminal proceedings “also initiated in other countries (the Netherlands, Switzerland) with the support of associations of patients”. “The objective is that with this trial, we demonstrate once again that the tobacco industry is deceiving and is unspeakable in terms of behavior”, explain to France Info Professor Yves Martinet, president of the CNCT.
A two-tier market
Every day around the world, 11 million cigarettes are sold, generating 39 billion in profits, the equivalent of Luxembourg’s GDP. In 2015 in France, 34% of men and 28% of women smoked. If the Russians are the biggest consumers, the French are not left out: France has more than 13 million smokers who consume 55,000 tonnes of tobacco each year. According to OFDT, 55,000,000,000 cigarettes were sold in France in 2014.
But the market is going badly: overall, the French smoke less and are turning more and more to electronic cigarettes. The increase in the price of packages plays a major role in the disinterest of the French (+ 1 euros from 1er March 2018). A study conducted in July 2017 on the impact of the rise in cigarette packs and published in the journal Epidemiology suggests that increasing the price of a pack of cigarettes by one dollar increases the odds of quitting among smokers, especially long-term smokers. The government has announced its intention to gradually increase the price of a packet of cigarettes to ten euros, against around seven currently (+ 40%).
Others, on the other hand, are turning to the black market: 25% of the sale of cigarettes in France is done on the black market according to a study carried out by the KPMG firm and relayed by the Figaro. An underground economy resulting in a shortfall of 3 billion euros.
The tobacco companies are trying everything for everything
Prevention campaigns and the deleterious effects of smoking (whether active or passive) are now considered to be a real public health problem: in France, one in 3 cancer is linked to tobacco consumption and on average 70 people recur. 000 deaths each year from smoking. Smoking one pack a day is even associated with at least 150 mutations per year in lung cells, according to a study published in November 2016 in the journal Science. In total, cigarettes are said to contain more than 7,000 different chemicals, of which more than 70 are known to be carcinogenic.
But this collective awareness affects the profits of the tobacco industry, which has no other solution than to be more aggressive. By cunning with micro-perforations in the filters for example.
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