What goes into tobacco products?

The majority of smokers use cigarettes. A manufactured cigarette is a carefully designed device for delivering nicotine. Cured and processed tobacco is packed and wrapped to create a standardised product. The characteristics of each brand depend on the tobacco type and blend, how it is cured, the additives used and other technical characteristics of the cigarette. These may affect for example the content of different substances in the smoke, burning characteristics nicotine release and the size of smoke particles.
In recent decades, more and more additives have been introduced, and current cigarettes may contain up to 10 per cent additives by weight. Nearly 600 different additives have been documented. They also affect smoke characteristics, such as colour, harshness, odour and flavour.
The main tobacco additives are sugars, which are also present naturally, and moisturising agents. Others include preservatives and numerous flavourings, including cocoa, liquorice, menthol and lactic acid.
Roll-your-own cigarettes, cigars, waterpipes and smokeless tobacco products, which may also contain additives, all account for small portions of the total market.

Bolshoi faces fine for advertising tobacco

Russia’s Bolshoi Theater has been found guilty of violating the law on advertising and is facing a fine of 110,000 rubles for promoting tobacco smoking, the country’s anti-trust watchdog said on Tuesday.
“Advertisements of Japan Tobacco International tobacco company were distributed through a booklet with the theater’s program at performances in September and October 2012 and were not accompanied by a warning of the harm caused by smoking,” the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) said on its website.
FAS has ruled to impose a fine of 110,000 rubles on the Bolshoi. The theater has 10 days to appeal against the ruling.

Korea enjoys tobacco trade surplus

The value of South Korea’s tobacco exports increased by 370 per cent during the past 10 years while imports remained steady, resulting in a tobacco trade surplus since 2004, according to a story in The Korea Times.
Ninety seven per cent of tobacco exports comprise cigarettes.
In 2002, Korea’s tobacco imports amounted to more than double its exports but, by last year, exports had risen to be 1.7 times higher than its imports, data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS) has shown.
“Much of the domestic demand for imported manufactured tobacco appears to have been replaced by demand for Korean-made products as their quality improved,” said a KCS official.
In 2002, more than three quarters of the tobacco imported by Korea was in the form of manufactured products, but this share fell to about 40 per cent last year, with the rest comprising unmanufactured leaf tobacco.
Meanwhile, the Yonhap News Agency said that the value of exports had increased from US$156.29 million to US$572.05 million during the 10 year period, says Tobacco Reporter.

Shareholders File Anti-Smoking Resolutions With Movie Companies

An anti-smoking crusade is being taken to movie companies by shareholders who are filing resolutions asking that movies designed for young people eliminate smoking or have R ratings.
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), one of the leaders of the effort, notes a recent U.S. Surgeon General report that says smoking depicted in movies causes more young people to take up smoking.
Shareholders of several major movie companies have filed resolutions asking that the companies give movies depicting smoking an R rating or eliminate smoking from movies anticipated to get a G, PG, or PG-13 rating. Shareholder resolutions have been filed with Time Warner, CBS and Comcast. Similar resolutions are to be filed with The Walt Disney Co., News Corp, Sony and Viacom, according to ICCR and As Your Sow, a nonprofit organization that promotes corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy.
Attorneys general in 38 states have written to media companies with similar requests, according to ICCR.
“Investors are concerned about the financial, legal, and reputation risks these studios may bear due to the health impact on children and teens that are exposed to smoking in the movies they watch,” says Cathy Rowan, director of socially responsible investments for Trinity Health, an ICCR member.
Tobacco use in youth rated movies increased in 2011 by 34 percent, says Michael Passoff, senior strategist at As You Sow, reports Financial Advisor.