Bliley Lorillard
Statement of Alexander W. Spears Vice Chairman and Chief Operation Officer Lorillard Tobacco Company before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce U.S. House of Representatives March 25, 1994
Abstract
Statement of Alexander Spears, Lorillard Tobacco Company, before the Subcommittee on Health and Environment. Argues against recent claims on ABC's Day One program, and a letter written by David Kessler, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, that the tobacco industry adds nicotine to cigarettes for the purpose of manipulating the dose the smoker receives. Describes nicotine levels in different types of tobacco, the process of making reconstituted sheets, the use of denatured alcohol, and use of a tobacco extract for flavor.
User-Contributed Notes
- Testing
Fields
- Type
- REPORT
- Author (Organization)
- Covington & Burling (Tobacco Industry law firm)Tobacco industry law firm. Was involved in organizing the Whitecoat Project.
- Recipient
- Spears, Alexander White, III (LOR President & CEO)Associated with CTR, used as an expert in the Mississippi case.
- Recipient (Organization)
- Lorillard Tobacco Co. (American cigarette manufacturer)American cigarette manufacturer; makes Kent, MaxSatin, Newport, Old Gold, Style, and True cigarettes.
- Named Person
- Kessler, David A., M.D., J.D. (Former FDA Commissioner)appointed FDA Commissioner by President George Bush in December 1990.
- Waxman, Henry A. (U.S. Representative)(D-CA) Was chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health and the Environment in 1994.
- Tisch, Andrew H. (LOR President and CEO (1989-1995))Defense
- Whitley, Charles O. (TI Spokesman, U.S. Representative (D-NC))
- Dunn, Charles, Dr.
- Named Organization
- Federal Trade Commission (Enforcement agency for laws against deceptive advertising)Enforces laws against false and deceptive advertising, including ads for tobacco products. Ensures proper display of health warnings in ads and on tobacco products;collects and reports to Congress information concerning cigarette and smokeless tobacco advertising, sales expenditures, and the tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide content of cigarettes.
- United States Department of Health and Human Services
- Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service (U.S. Federal government public health advocate)The U.S. Surgeon General's office has found since 1964 that tobacco use causes disease in humans.
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
- Food and Drug Administration
- *Council for Tobacco Research-- U.S.A. Inc. CTR (Formerly Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC))Created and funded by the tobacco industry to award grants to study of the link between smoking and disease. Part of a four decade effort to cast doubt on the links between smoking and disease.
- Philip Morris & Co. Ltd. (Cigarette manufacturer, incorporated in U.S. in 1902)Philip Morris & Co. Ltd.., was incorporated in New York in April of 1902; half the shares were held by the parent company in London, and the balance by its U.S. distributor and his American associate. Its overall sales in 1903, its first full year of U.S. operation, were a modest seven million cigarettes. Among the brand offered, besides Philip Morris, were Blues, Cambridge, Derby, and a ladies favorite name for the London street where the home companies factory was located - Marlborough.
- Lorillard Inc. (American cigarette manufacturer)American cigarette manufacturer
- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (Cigarette manufacturer (Camel, Winston, Doral))Cigarette manufacturer (Camel, Winston, Doral)
- Tobacco Institute (Industry Trade Association)The purpose of the Institute was to defeat legislation unfavorable to the industry, put a positive spin on the tobacco industry, bolster the industry's credibility with legislators and the public, and help maintain the controversy over "the primary issue" (the health issue).
- United States House of Representatives
- Keyword
- Smoking and Health
- Environmental Tobacco Smoke ETS
- Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act
- Thesaurus Term
- tobacco industry employee
- hearing
- tobacco manufacturer
- nicotine
- Congress
- addiction
- tobacco use
- research activity
- industry sponsored research
- adverse effects
- secondhand smoke
- newspaper
- mass media
- patent
- testimony
- tobacco industry law firm
- warning label
- litigation
- Subject
- advertising restriction
- nicotine manipulation
Document Images
(1)
BLACK TAB INDEX
S PEARS a A.W.
• Testimony - MarCh 25
• Letter to Employees
• Outline to Congressman
• Lorillard Patent, 4, 215, 706, Aug. 5, 1980
(2)
TISCH. A.H.
• TWO Letters to Employees
(3)
• Letter of Invitation to Hearing - 3/31/94
• Statement - 3/31
• Committee Membership
(4)
WHITLEY
• Testimony - March 25
(s)
(6)
PHILIP MORRIS MATERIALS
• As Released by Waxman
• Statement by Company
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES (4 Samples)
('~)
(8)
Summary of Charges from 3/25 Hearing with Kessler
exhibits.
EPA-ETS. Excerpts from analysis of scientific
challenges.
WHITE TAB INDEX
I
II
III
Smoking and Health
Smoking and Addiction
CTR Research Relating to Nicotine
89284438
Statement of
Alexander W. Spears
Vice Chairm~n and Chief Operating Officer
Lorillard Tobacco Company
before the
Subcommittee on
Health and the Environment
of the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
March 25, 1994
My name is Alexander W. Spears, and I am Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer
for Lorillard Tobacco Company.
Within the last few weeks, ABC's DAY ONE show has featured two cigarette-related
programs alleging that the tobacco industry adds nicotine to cigarette tobacco for the purpose
of manipulating the dose of nicotine to the consumer. These statements are completely false.
David Kessler, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, stated in a letter to
#
Scott Ballin of the Coalition on Smoking or Health dated February 25, 1994, that manufacturers
commonly add nicotine to cigarettes to deliver specific amounts of nicotine. This letter was
released to the media, perpetuating its false assertions.
The level of nicotine in the tobacco of our products is solely determined by the tO.
tobacco that we buy and blending of the different tobaccos during manufacturing. The tar and '~
-2-
nicotine yields of our products are determined by a combination of the tobacco blends and the
construction of the cigarette, i.e., length, circumference, filter, tip ventilation, tobacco
density,
etc. The Federal Trade Commission has reported the results of tar and nicotine analysis by
brand for years.
We do not set nicotine levels for particular brands of cigarettes. Nicotine levels follow
the tar levels, The easy proof that no nicotine manipulation has occurred' may be found in the-
temporal tar and nicotine data from the 1950's to the 1990's, As shown in Chart I, both tar and
nicotine on a sale~ .~'eiglated basis have decreased in a parallel fashion and by the same amount,
(reference, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Reducing the Health
Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General," at 88; 1988-1990 numbers based
on information similar to that used in the 1989 Surgeon General's Report.): Chart II presents
the results of a longitudinal analysis for the latest tar and nicotine results: on 483 brands to be
reported by the Federal Trade Commission. The correlation coefficient of 0.975 is essentially
perfect correlation between tar and nicotine and shows that there is no manipulation of nicotine.
We do not add nicotine to our products, except in two ~ignificant and incidental cases:
(1) through the use of denatured aleohol, which is required to contain small amounts of nicotine
under regulation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and (2). through the use of
a few flavors which incorporate a tobacco extract that contains some nicotine. The combined
amount of nicotine from these sources is too small to be measured in the final products.
-3-
One of the processes for the production of reconstituted tobacco, which is used in the
manufacture of cigarettes, involves temporary separation and reapplication of water-soluble
components of tobacco, including nicotine. This process, which is well described in the
published literature, including three Surgeon General's reports, results in a reduction of nicotine
in the f'mished cigarette. Other processes which have been described i:n the literature result in
similar products but do not involve the temporary separation of water soluble components of
tobacco. Again, some nicotine is lost during the manufacture of reconstituted sheet with the
sheet containing much less nicotine than leaf tobacco.
I mlx:at, th~ allegations of DAY ONE and David Kessler concerning nicotine
manipulation are false and are inconsistent with reported tar and nicotine data on commercial
cigarette brands.
"Tar" and N. Icotine Yk=lds of U.S. Cigarettes
Sales Weib~hted AveraKe Basis, 1954-90
40
35
3O
® 25
~0
"Tar"
Tar Nicotine
1950s 37 2.6
1990s 11.4 0.8
~ % ~ % Reduction 69% 69%
Nicotine V ~-~ ~'i
5
--3
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980
1985 1990
" ~r mud Nn©otnn~ o~ th~ Smok~ 0~ Dom~sU¢
~odowa¢'Tra~e ~:~mn~s~on. R~On O~ ~ Tar.
March 21, 1994
TO: TO ALL EMPLOYE[E~ /
FROM: . A. W. Spears
Within the last few weeks, ABC's DAY ONE show featured two
cigarette related programs. Many false statements and innuendos were made.
A letter was written by David Kessler, Commissioner of the Food and Drug
Administration, alleging that the tobacco companies add nicotine to cigarettes.
And, finally, we expect the subject of added cigarette ingredients to be raised in
Congressional Hearings in the near future.
This letter is to provide the correct information to each of you regarding
alleged "spiking" and manipulation of nicotine in our products and the use
other added ingredients.
.Nicotine:
We do not add nicotine to our products, except in two insignificant and
incidental cases:
1)
Through the use of denatured alcohol, which contains small
amounts of nicotine under regulation by the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms.
2)
Through the use of a flavor, which incorporates a tobacco extract
that contains some nicotine.
The combined amount of nicotine from these sources is too small to
be measured in the final products. The level of nicotine in the tobacco of our
products is solely determined and controlled by the tobacco that we buy, and
blending of the different tobaccos during manufacturing. Other representations
that have been made by DAY ONE and Kessler are completely false.
Location:
2525 East Market Street
Greensboro. North Carolina 27401
CONTINUED .....
Ma~l
P.O. Box 21688
Greens0om. Nortla Carolina 27420-1688
ALL EMPLOYEES - March 21, 1994
Page2
The tar and nicotine yields of our products are determined in part by the
tobacco blends that we use, and also by the construction of the cigarette, i.e.
length, circumference, filter, tobacco density, etc. Of course, we control all of
these parameters to tight specifications during manufacture to produce very
consistent high quality products. Tt~e tar and nicotine yields by brand have
been reported for years by the Federal Trade Commission and made available
to the public through the media.
Ingredients:
We do add ingredients to cigarette tobacco in the form of humectants and
flavors. These ingredients have been reported to the Health and Human
Services Department of the Government in a combined annual industry list for
the last eight years. With each report an offer was made to meet and discuss
any item of concern with government scientists. No request to meet has ever
occurred, an~in, fact, the prior Secretary of HI-IS, Louis Sullivan, indicated to
a Congressional committee that tobacco ingredients were not a priority.
The Life Sciences Department of our Research and Development
organization has the responsibility of determining that all ingredients added to
our products are safe in the amount and manner in which we use them.
Additionally, data relating to the safety of the entire list of ingredients used by
the industry have been reviewed by a panel of toxicologists of national
reputation. Their conclusion is: "Ingredients added to tobacco in the
manufacture of cigarettes by the six U.S. manufacturers are not hazardous
under the conditions of use. ~
We have no secret agendas with respect to these ingredients, other than to
protect our brand formulas from our competitors and to only divulge ingredients
to responsible individuals who have the sdientific backgrounds for review.
I hope that this letter serves to answer questions that you may have had
regarding the recent media stories on these subjects. We will make a
determined effort in the Congressional Hearings, and as may otherwise be
appropriate, to set the record straight.
AW$:epp
cop;
PRESENTATION to CONGRESSMEN
March 16, 1994
NICOTINE
A. Green tobacco; curing (small reduction of nicotine).
B. Leaf lamina
I. Tobacco types
a) flue-cured:
b) hurley
c) oriental
1.5 - 3.2% nicotine
2.2 - 2 % nicotine
0.6- 1.5% nicotine
2. Stalk position (above)
3. Dry weather crop: +25%; wet weather: -25%
4, Commercial cultivars: + 10%
5. Multip~, year inventories
6. Thr~hing and drying (small r~luction in nicotine)
7. Aging (small r~duction in nicotine)
C. Leaf veins and mid-rib: -0.2 - 0.5 % nicodnc
D. Reconstituted tobacco sheet: 0.8% nicotine.
E. Commercial blends of tobacco.
I. I-5 - 2.2% nicotine.
2. Blending and purchasing to control.
F. Reconstituted sheet processes
Paper process
a) Contact tobacco parts with water 1:3 and separate solids from solttblcs.
b) Fibrillate.
c) Form web with fibers in water, and remove water.
d) Impregnate with water solubles.
c) Dry sheet.
f) No addition of nicotine; some losses in process.
2. Slurry process
a) Contact tobacco parts with water; free pectins or add binder.
b) Cast into sheet.
c) No addidon of nicotine; some losses in process.
P. 2/4
