Ahs Flavouradditives Nov 2012

7/29/2019 Ahs Flavouradditives Nov 2012

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November 15, 2012

A Comprehensive Tobacco Flavour Additive Ban is Neededto Prevent and Reduce Youth Tobacco Use

Background

Addiction to tobacco products remains the

leading cause of preventable illness, disability

and death in Alberta and Canada.

Flavour additives are commonly added to

tobacco products to deliberately mask the

harshness of tobacco and increase the

appeal and palatability of tobacco products,

facilitating experimentation and ultimately

tobacco addiction.

Numerous tobacco industry documents

confirm the use of flavours as enticement for

new smokers. One marketing plan includes

the development of a fruit flavoured

addition and a cool menthol for the

industry described starter smokers.1

Another document describes designing a

youth oriented cigarette that is

candy-like.2

The linkage of fruit and candy flavours with

tobacco products also contributes to

misleadingly minimizing the harmfulness of

flavoured products.

The implied harm reduction from the use of

flavours is confirmed by tobacco industry

documents that describe adding flavour for a

healthy image.3

Flavours are also used to disguise the smell

of second-hand smoke. Industry documents

reveal a concept to develop a fruit-flavouredproduct with masked side stream smoke

that can be smoked in front of children to

prevent usual smells.

4

The Government of Canada has taken steps

to reduce the use of flavour additives but

significant gaps in legislation exist and young

people continue to use flavoured tobacco

products known as starter products.

Bill C-32

The federal government amended the

Tobacco Actin 2009 in an effort to help

protect youth from tobacco industry

marketing. Bill C-32:An Act to Amend the

Tobacco Act(also known as the Cracking

Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth

Act) prohibits the use of most flavour

additives in cigarettes, little cigars and blunt

wraps. The act also prohibits the sale of small

cigars (known as cigarillos) as singles or smallquantity kiddy packs and eliminated

tobacco print advertising in publicly

distributed magazines.

The Act exempts cigars, spit tobacco and

menthol.

TOBACCO

REDUCTION

PROGRAM


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The Bill C-32 Loopholes

Little cigars are defined by Bill C-32 as

tobacco products with cigarette-style filters

that contain 1.4 grams of tobacco or less.

Tobacco products that are greater than

1.4 grams that do not incorporate a

cigarette-style filter are categorized as cigars

and are not covered by Bill C-32.

As soon as the new regulations came into

effect in July 2010 new flavoured tobacco

products that are marginally bigger than 1.4

grams appeared on the market. Well

publicized in trade magazines as being Bill

C-32 compliant the products are available in

singles, in kid-friendly flavours like grape and

cherry and in bright, innocuous containers

without the health warnings required on

cigarette packages.

The tobacco industrys ability to exploit the

loopholes in Bill C-32 and the significant

exemptions in the legislation permit the

industry to continue to use flavour additives

to recruit new users.

The Bill C-32 Exemptions

Spit tobacco was exempted from the flavour

additive ban and this segment of the tobacco

industry continues to rise in popularity in

Alberta. Shipments of spit tobacco to Alberta

rose to a record high of 127,490 kilograms in

2011 up from 112,425 kilograms in 2010, an

alarming increase of 13 per cent. During the

same period total spit tobacco shipments in

Canada increased from 297,098 to 317,404

kilograms, 74 per cent of the national

increase in shipments were sent to Alberta.5

Industry reports indicate that seven of the

top 10 spit tobacco products are flavoured

6

and that spit tobacco is one of the most

profitable products per square foot.7

surprising that a teenage spit tobacco user

explains that cherry is like kindergarten for

Copenhagen.

Given

the role of flavour additives in making

tobacco products more palatable it is not

8

Bill C-32 also exempted menthol from the

flavour additive ban. Menthol is used as a

flavour but also for reducing the irritation of

tobacco smoke as it is inhaled, making it

easier for new users to smoke. Research

confirms that menthol cigarettes contributeto the appeal of youth smoking and to the

addictive potential of smoking cigarettes

among youth.9

Among Canadian youth who

are daily or occasional smokers, 40.9 per cent

report using menthol cigarettes.10

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory

Committee concludes that menthol leads to

an increase in the number of tobacco users

and that it makes it more difficult forsmokers to quit. The Committee

recommends removal of menthol cigarettes

from the marketplace to benefit public

health in the United States.

11A recent U.S.

study found that nearly 40 per cent of

menthol smokers say they would quit if

menthol cigarettes were no longer

available.12

Menthol is added to spit tobacco to improve

the taste for new users. U.S. Smokeless

tobacco documents reveal thatresearch has

proven that a mint-flavoured smokeless has

great potential for success due to its appeal

to the undoctrinated smokeless tobacco

user.

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Given the rising popularity of spit tobacco in

Alberta a ban on menthol in tobacco

products would be extremely beneficial for

public health in our province.

The use of tobacco known as shisha or

hookah in waterpipes is an emerging public

health issue. Recent Canadian data indicate

that 24 per cent of young adults aged 2024

have used a waterpipe.14

This is another

tobacco product that is available in many

fruit, candy, bubblegum, dessert and cocktail

flavours and should be included in a flavour

additive ban.

Alberta Health Services Recommendations

A comprehensive tobacco flavour additive

ban that includes menthol and all tobacco

products, including cigars, spit tobacco and

shisha is required to reduce the number of

youth who experiment with and become

addicted to tobacco products.

The information in this document

supplements other Alberta Health Services

briefs on the use of flavour additives in

tobacco products available at

http://tobaccofreefutures.ca/current_issues.

html:

1. Flavour Additives in TobaccoProducts: A Gateway to Tobacco

Addiction

2. Marketing Flavoured Spit Tobacco toYouth: An Industry Success Story

3. Cherry is like kindergarten forCopenhagen: Why Canada Needs to

Ban the Use of Flavour Additives in

Spit Tobacco

For more information please contact Alberta

Health Services Tobacco Reduction Program

[email protected]

phone 780-422-1350.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Tobacco flavours available in Canada include chocolate, grape, watermelon, peach,

strawberry, honey and bubblegum.
http://tobaccofreefutures.ca/current_issues.htmlhttp://tobaccofreefutures.ca/current_issues.htmlhttp://tobaccofreefutures.ca/current_issues.htmlmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://tobaccofreefutures.ca/current_issues.htmlhttp://tobaccofreefutures.ca/current_issues.html


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1Sword Innovation Services Limited (1990). Letter from Brian McCarthy to RP Ferris enclosing report of the BAT Scimitar

programme. Bates 400764282-400764378 Retrieved October 19, 2012, from http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/lcp42a99.2R.J. Reynolds Inter-office Memorandum, May 9, 1974, Bates No. 511244297-4298. Retrieved October 19, 2012, from

http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/d/c/c/dcc71d00/Sdcc71d00.pdf.3Sword Innovation Services Limited (1990). Letter from Brain McCarthy to RP Ferris enclosing report of the BAT Scimitar

programme. Bates 400764282-400764378 Retrieved October 19, 2012, from http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/lcp42a99.4Sword Innovation Services Limited (1990). Letter from Brain McCarthy to RP Ferris enclosing report of the BAT Scimitar

programme. Bates 400764282-400764378 Retrieved October 19, 2012, from http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/lcp42a99.5Health Canada data provided to Alberta Health Services, July 11, 2012. Includes snuff, chew and pouches.

6National Smokeless Tobacco Company (2007). Presentation made during Convenience U CarWacs, March 7 and 8, Toronto.

Cited in Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. (2009, June) Smokeless tobacco: Candy coated carcinogens. Retrieved September

24, 2012, fromhttp://www.smoke-free.ca/pdf_1/2009/smokeless.pdf.7Dickson, J. (2011,October). OTP Delivers ROI. Other tobacco products driving in-store traffic. Independent Convenience

News.Retrieved September 26, 2012, fromhttp://magazine.independentconvenience.ca/i/41370.8Freedman, A. M. (1994, October 26).Juiced up: How a tobacco giant doctors its snuff brand to boost their kick. Wall Street

Journal. Retrieved September 24, 2012, fromhttp://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/voz11b00.9Hersey, J. C. Nonnemaker, J. M., & Homsi, G. (2010, December). Menthol cigarettes contribute to the appeal and addiction

potential of smoking for youth. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 12(Suppl 2):S136S146. Retrieved September 24, 2012, from

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21177370.10Statistics Canada (2012).Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, Flavoured tobacco products use in the last 30 days, by

smoking status and grouped grades, Canada, 2010-11(2012). Retrieved September 25, 2012, fromhttp://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-

ps/tobac-tabac/research-recherche/stat/_survey-sondage_2010-2011/table-eng.php#t11.11

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2012). Menthol Report: Overview. Retrieved September 25, 2012, from

http://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/TobaccoProductsScientificAdvisoryCommittee/ucm247

605.htm.12

Pearson, J. L., Abrams, D. B., Niaura, R. S., Richardson, A., & Vallone, D. M. (2012, November). A ban on menthol cigarettes:

Impact on public opinion and smokers' intention to quit.American Journal of Public Health. 102(11), e107e114 . Retrieved

September 28, 2012, fromhttp://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300804?journalCode=ajph.13

Glasscox, R. M. for US Tobacco. (1984, November 15). Company 1st quarter 1985 : Issues and objectives. Retrieved September

24, 2012, fromhttp://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/mfc46b00.14

Statistics Canada (2012). Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2012, fromhttp://www.hc-

sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/tobac-tabac/research-recherche/stat/ctums-esutc_2011-eng.php.
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Ahs Flavouradditives Nov 2012

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