In February 2000, the World Health Organization sponsored an international conference in Oslo on tobacco product regulation, bringing together experts from around the world, including Canada. Their official recommendation:

“Governments are urged, individually or at a regional level, to take the following actions:

• Ban the use of misleading terms such as ‘light’, ‘mild’, and other words or imagery (including certain brand names) which have the aim or effect of implying a reduced health risk attributable to low tar or nicotine measurements on tobacco products and in advertising/promotional material.
• Remove tar and nicotine measures derived from ISO/FTC methods from packages.”

In August 2001, an international panel of 12 experts on epidemiology, cigarette design and marketing, and tobacco policy, was convened in Hull to examine the science on ‘light’ cigarettes. Key findings of the panel:

• Finding 1: “There is no convincing evidence of a meaningful health benefit to either individuals nor to the whole population resulting from cigarettes marketed as ‘light’ or ‘mild’. Any false perception of health benefit may exacerbate the tobacco epidemic as it may delay quitting or increase initiation.”
• Finding 2: “[…] terms such as ‘light’ and ‘mild’ in tobacco marketing in Canada are both false and misleading. Substantial proportions of Canadians are being deceived in that they believe these products deliver less tar and nicotine and are less harmful to smokers’ health… Tobacco industry documents attest that one consequence of this false representation is reduced propensity to quit smoking.”
• Finding 4: “We conclude that a complete prohibition of the use of deceptive descriptors such as ‘light’ and ‘mild’ on cigarette packaging and marketing is necessary to ensure that past deception is redressed and ongoing deception is prevented.”

In November 2001, the U.S. National Cancer Institute released a 236-page monograph on so-called ‘low-tar’ cigarettes, with participation and/or input from the world’s top epidemiologists on tobacco issues. The monograph concluded:

“Epidemiological and other scientific evidence, including patterns of mortality from smoking-caused diseases, does not indicate a benefit to public health from changes in cigarette design and manufacturing over the last fifty years […] For spontaneous brand switchers, there appears to be complete compensation for nicotine delivery, reflecting more intensive smoking of lower-yield cigarettes.” [In other words, because of addiction, smokers get the same dose of toxins from any brand of cigarette they smoke.]

References:

• World Health Organization, Monograph: Advancing Knowledge on Regulation Tobacco Products, based on presentations made at the International Conference: Advancing knowledge on tobacco products, held in Oslo, Norway, 9-11 February 2000, under the direction of Dr Derek Yach, Executive Director, WHO Non Communicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster.
• Ministerial Advisory Council on Tobacco Control, Putting an End to Deception: Proceedings of the International Expert Panel on Cigarette Descriptors, January 2002.
• U.S. National Cancer Institute, Risks Associated with Smoking Cigarettes with Low Machine-Measured Yields of Tar and Nicotine, Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 13, 2001.