WASHINGTON – The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it no longer considers reliable a test for tar and nicotine used for more than 40 years and touted by the tobacco industry in marketing “light” and “low-tar” cigarettes.

The FTC said it may rescind its guidance on tar and nicotine yields that is based on that test. The commission said if the guidance is withdrawn, advertisers should no longer use terms suggesting FTC endorsement or approval of any specific test method.

The test, known as the Cambridge Filter Method, is a machine-based test that smokes cigarettes according to a standard procedure and is sometimes referred to as “the FTC method.” The FTC issued its guidance in 1966 at a time when most public health officials believed reducing the amount of tar produced by a cigarette could reduce a smoker's risk of lung cancer. The commission believed that giving consumers uniform information about tar and nicotine yields of cigarettes would help them make informed decisions about the cigarettes they smoked.

But the FTC said Tuesday scientists now believe the test does not provide meaningful information on relative amounts of tar and nicotine people are likely to get from smoking different brands of cigarettes.

The main reason is that smokers often alter their behavior to get the necessary nicotine dosage, the FTC said. The techniques include taking larger and deeper puffs, smoking more and blocking the ventilation holes that may contribute to lower levels of tar and nicotine.

Nicotine acts as a stimulant and is one of the main factors contributing to the addictive quality of smoking. Tar is the residue from burning tobacco and one of the most destructive byproducts of smoking, accumulating in a smoker's lungs.

“While today's FTC action is important, it will not by itself end the tobacco industry's deceptive marketing of 'light' and 'low-tar' cigarettes,” said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. He said the FTC action underscores the need for Congress to “enact pending legislation to grant the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco products.” He said any FTC action would not prohibit tobacco companies from making statements regarding tar and nicotine levels, and from describing cigarettes as “light” and “low-tar.”

For decades, the FDA said it lacked authority to regulate tobacco so long as cigarette makers did not claim that smoking provided health benefits. In 1996, it reversed course and cited new evidence that the industry intended its products to feed the nicotine habits of the roughly 45 million Americans who smoke.

Tobacco companies sued, and the case eventually landed in the Supreme Court. In 2000, the court ruled 5-4 that Congress did not authorize the FDA to regulate tobacco.

The FDA legislation approved by House and Senate committees would prohibit terms such as “light” or “mild” which many consumers mistakenly believe means the products are safer. It also would assess millions of dollars in user fees to help pay the agency's added costs for regulating tobacco. More than 400,000 people die from smoking-related illnesses each year.

An industry spokesman had little to say about the FTC proposal.

“We're reviewing the proposal,” said Bill Phelps, spokesman for Altria Group, which owns Philip Morris USA, maker of Marlboro, the world's best-selling cigarette. “I can't really comment beyond that.”

The company still sends out mail advertising for its cigarettes that cites the findings about tar and nicotine in cigarettes, citing “the FTC method.”

“For years, Big Tobacco has relied on the FTC's flawed testing method to mislead smokers into thinking these cigarettes deliver less tar and nicotine,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. Lautenberg and Sen. Olympia Snow, R-Maine, introduced a bill that would prevent cigarette companies from using “the FTC method” for measuring tar and nicotine.

“In reality, some so-called 'light' and 'low-tar' cigarettes can actually be more harmful for smokers,” he said. “Tobacco companies should not be able to hide behind the federal government to deceptively market their deadly products. Smokers deserve to know the truth and today's action will help make sure they get it.”

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