Tobacco Documents Online

I Am Very Concerned and Devistated Over the Fact That I Smoke These Bugs.

Abstract

An alarmed cigarette consumer wrote this letter to the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1996 to tell them she found find live bugs crawling around out of her cigarette filters. The smoker writes,

"I am very concerned and devistated over the fact that I smoked these bugs. I am also afraid and sickened that these bugs are crawling out of the filters and I may have ingested them."

The customer says she fumigated her home after finding bugs crawling out of her cigarette pack, and communicates her displeasure with the cavalier manner in which the company apparently handled her complaint.. She further expresses her displeasure that R.J. Reynolds could be so unconcerned about her health:

"I am very concerned if there are any dangers from smoking or injesting these bugs... I am very upset on how this issue was handled through your so called supervisors. They showed no concern when I explained that these bugs could be in my house and in my body. You would think that they would put a rush on this situation but I was told it would take 2 weeks to receive the mailer [to return the cigarettes to the factory] and 5 weeks to examine the cigarettes. There were no concerns that this could be a health risk to me and my family."

This is one of a large number of consumer letters that appear in the tobacco industry's documents complaining that bugs and bug larvae were found in cigarettes and expressing concern about the the ingestion of same by smokers. The fact that such contamination occurs in a semi-legal product that millions of people take into their bodies millions of times per day in the U.S. is of public health interest. It also highlights a consequence of the fact that cigarettes remain unregulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If consumers regularly reported bugs crawling out of packages of other widely-used legal (or semi-legal) drugs (for example aspirin, cold medicines or even alcoholic beverages) how long might the public and legislators tolerate it?

Fields

Quotes

I am very concerned and devistated over the fact that I smoked these bugs. I am also afraid and sickened that these bugs are crawling out of the filters and I may have ingested them.

I was working in my house when I opened these cigarettes so I was smoking on the go. A few hours later I sat down to enjoy a cigarette and noticed a harsh non-menthol taste. I continued to open the foil across the top and noticed bugs crawling throughout these cigarettes. I took them back to the store where I purchased them and the clerk witnessed the bugs crawling throughout the pack.

Do to the fact that these bugs were alive I was concerned that some may have crawled out of the pack and into my home. I had to fumigate my home.

I am very concerned if there are any dangers from smoking or injesting these bugs. I hope you can see the seriousness of getting the results of your findings to me as soon as possible. I hope immediate action will be taken on this issue.

I am very upset on how this issue was handled through your so called supervisors. They showed no concern when I explained that these bugs could be in my house and in my body. You would think that they would put a rush on this siuation but I was told it would take 2 weeks to receive the mailer and 5 weeks to examine the cigarettes. There were no concerns that this could be a health risk to me and my family.

I realize that through the processing of cigarettes mistakes can and will be made but you must know that something like this can and has had a great impact on the consumer!

Concerned and waiting,

Yvette Haapapuio

Company

R.J. Reynolds

Author

Haapapuio, Y.

Recipient

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Region

United States

Type

CONSUMER LETTER

HANDWRITTEN

Subject

contaminants (Unintended foreign additives in cigarettes)

Includes items such as bugs, bug larvae, pesticides or pesticide derivatives, oils, rubber or metal shards from factory machinery belts, perfume, molds, paper clips, blood, etc. that accidentally get into finished product.