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Latest review of cigarette tar and nicotine yields released
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The Government's latest review of tar and nicotine yields of cigarettes has shown that the average tar and nicotine yields of the 108 brands surveyed were 13.2 milligrams (mg) and 0.93 mg per cigarette respectively.
Releasing the findings today (Saturday), a spokesman for the Health and Welfare Branch pointed out that the average tar and nicotine yields of cigarettes had been decreasing consistently over the past years.
The respective figures published in the first review in 1984 were 17.6 mg/cigarette and 1.36 mg/cigarette. When compared to 1993, the average tar yield reported in the present review (covering January to December 1994) has decreased by 0.1 mg/cigarette while that for nicotine yield has increased by 0.1 mg/cigarette.
Under the Smoking (Public Health) Regulation, cigarettes are classified into four tar groups according to their determined tar yields:
low tar
0 to 9 mg/cigarette
low to middle tar
10 to 14 mg/cigarette
15 to 17 mg/cigarette
18 to 20 mg/cigarette
middle tar high tar
Out of the 108 brands of cigarettes surveyed, 23 brands were in the low tar group, 33 brands in the low to middle tar group, 40 brands in the middle tar group and 12 brands in the high tar group.
All 108 brands of cigarettes reported in the present Table carried on their packets and cartons a tar group designation as claimed by their manufacturers.
But 13 brands were found to have declared tar groups inconsistent with test findings with 12 of them being under- reported and one over- reported.