TUESDAY, MAY 14, 1985
19
NEW CIGARETTE TAR TESTS CARRIED OUT
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THE GOVERNMENT HAS COMPLETED ANOTHER SERIES OF TESTS ON CIGARETTES ON SALE IN HONG KONG AND RESULTS. TO BE PUBLISHED TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY), SHOW THAT OVER HALF OF THESE BRANDS OF CIGARETTES BELONG TO THE LOW TAR' AND 'LOW TO MIDDLE TAR' GROUPS.
FOUR SUCH SERIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED BY THE GOVERNMENT CHEMIST SINCE FEBRUARY, 1983. THE PURPOSE OF THESE PERIODIC TESTS IS TO PROVIDE CIGARETTE SMOKERS WITH A GUIDE TO WHAT THEY ARE INHALING AND ALSO TO PROVIDE THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY WITH OFFICIAL TAR GROUP DESIGNATIONS FOR THEIR BRANDS OF CIGARETTE.
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THE LATEST SERIES OF TESTS COVERS THE PERIOD AUGUST 1984 TO JANUARY 1985 DURING WHICH A TOTAL OF 30 TESTS WERE CONDUCTED ON EACH BRAND OF CIGARETTE. BASED ON THE FINDINGS, A TABLE REPRESENTING THE AVERAGE TAR AND NICOTINE YIELDS OF 90 BRANDS *HAS BEEN COMPILED, SETTING OUT THE BRANDS UNDER FIVE GROUPS
RANGING FROM LOW TO HIGH TAR.
OF THE 90 BRANDS TESTED, 19 BELONGED TO THE LOW TAR' GROUP, 28 BRANDS CAME UNDER THE LOW TO MIDDLE TAR' GROUP, 39 BRANDS WERE LISTED IN THE 'MIDDLE TAR' GROUP AND THREE WERE CLASSIFIED AS 'MIDDLE TO HIGH TAR'. ONLY ONE BRAND WAS 'HIGH TAR'.
IT WAS OBSERVED THAT THERE WAS A GRADUAL INCREASE IN LOW TAR CIGARETTES ON SALE IN HONG KONG. LOW TAR CIGARETTES COMPRISED ABOUT 21.1 PER CENT OF THE BRANDS IN THE LATEST SERIES OF TESTS WHILE IN PREVIOUS EXERCISES, THE FIGURES WERE 9.5 PER CENT, 11.6 PER CENT AND 17.2 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY. ON THE OTHER HAND, A DECREASE WAS NOTED IN THE NUMBER OF LOW TO MIDDLE TAR' BRANDS.
WHILE ALL OF THE 90 BRANDS CARRIED MANUFACTURERS' CLAIMS OF THE TAR GROUP ON THEIR PACKAGES, 13 DID NOT COMPLY WITH THESE CLAIMED TAR GROUPS. TWO OF THESE 13 BRANDS CONTAINED HIGHER TAR THAN THE IR LABELLED CLAIMS, WHILE THE OTHERS BELONGED TO LOWER TAR GROUPS THAN THEIR LABELLED CLAIMS.
IN GENERAL, THE TAR AND NICOTINE CONTENTS OF MOST BRANDS WERE QUITE STABLE AS WAS THE CASE IN PREVIOUS TESTS.
AS IN THE LAST TAR TABLE, BRANDS OF CIGARETTES WITH +PINHOLES+ ON THE IR FILTERS ARE INDICATED IN THE LATEST TABLE.
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