237. Pyridine: Again, allegations
that pyridine increase the effects on the central nervous system
seem to be based on Dr Farone's testimony and the same 19th century
textbook. ASH also makes selective quotations from a report prepared
for British American Tobacco on the pharmacological effects of
pyridine. While ASH acknowledges that the report states that the
levels of pyridine formed in smoke are unlikely to be high enough
to be pharmacologically active, ASH fails to make it clear just
how remote the possibility of such an effect is, as illustrated
by the following passages from the same report:
"Pyridine is absorbed from oral mucosa at
a faster rate than nicotine. The absorption studies have not been
done in detail because the dose levels of pyridine required to
produce pharmacological effects indicate that even if there were
100 per cent absorption from tobacco, no dramatic modification
of nicotine's effect would be observed . . . Pyridine is ineffective
except at g/kg [gram per kilogram] levels . . . It is probable
that most smokers receive at most 0.01-0.05 mg of pyridine per
cigarette" ("The Absorption and Mechanism of Action
of Pyridine and its Interaction with Nicotine", unpublished
report, undated).
238. Additives and children:
ASH's other allegation is that British American Tobacco and other
tobacco companies use additives to make cigarettes more palatable
to children. Ingredients are indeed used to make cigarettes more
palatable, and to reduce harshness and irritation. The ASH report
suggests, however, that liquorice, cocoa and other substances
are used to create sweet-tasting products with particular appeal
to children. This is false. Casings, which can incorporate substances
such as liquorice and cocoa, are used primarily in the processing
of Burley tobaccos to replace sugars lost during air-curing and
to relieve the harshness of the smoke. These casings do not impart
liquorice or cocoa flavours which are identifiable as such by
the smoker. Although a cigarette containing liquorice and cocoa
casings does not have a taste character similar to that produced
by eating liquorice or cocoa products, they do act as flavour
modifiers, and panellists can be trained to recognise taste characters
produced by these casings. Critics would doubtless allege that
merely seeking to reduce the bitterness of smoke is a strategy
to appeal to children. It should be pointed out, however, that
Virginia-style cigarettes, which predominate in the UK and some
other markets, make little or no use of casings. As far as we
are aware, such cigarettes are not more or less palatable to children
than US-style cigarettes. It is also worth observing that the
problem of children smoking is similar in the US to the UK, despite
the different use of additives in each country.
239. British American Tobacco believes that
the Government should base consumer protection policy in relation
to cigarette ingredients on informed discussions with the tobacco
manufacturers and on objective scientific appraisal, not on inflammatory
and misleading pieces of advocacy.