598 



And, last, is it Mr. Taddeo? 



TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH TADDEO 



Mr. Taddeo. Taddeo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. U.S. Tobacco is 

 a leading manufacturer and producer of smokeless tobacco prod- 

 ucts, including moist snuff. U.S. Tobacco does not manufacture 

 cigarettes. U.S. Tobacco's smokeless tobacco brands include Copen- 

 hagen, which is one of America's oldest registered brand names. It 

 was introduced in 1822. Skol, our second largest selling brand was 

 introduced in 1934. 



Clearly, smokeless tobacco is not a new product. The use of 

 smokeless tobacco has been a tradition in the United States since 

 the 18th Century, predating branded cigarettes by over 100 years. 

 In fact, smokeless tobacco products dominated the American to- 

 bacco market until the early 20th Century when cigarettes began 

 to win wide public acceptance. 



While today smokeless tobacco products are consumed through- 

 out the United States, per capita consumption of smokeless tobacco 

 in the 1990's is less than 25 percent of what it was at the turn of 

 the century. As for U.S. Tobacco's products specifically, the makeup 

 and manufacturing process for its smokeless tobacco brands is very 

 similar to what it was at the turn of the century, regardless of the 

 flavor, cut of the tobacco, form, or packaging. 



I welcome, Mr. Chairman, this opportunity to set the record 

 straight, with regard to the baseless claims made before this sub- 

 committee on March 25th, concerning U.S. Tobacco's marketing 

 practices. 



Before turning to those matters, however, I will comment on alle- 

 gations of manipulation or control of nicotine in tobacco products. 

 U.S. Tobacco does not in any way manipulate the nicotine level in 

 its tobacco products, nor does U.S. Tobacco take any action to con- 

 trol the nicotine content of its tobacco products before, during, or 

 after the manufacturing process. In fact, an incidental effect of our 

 manufacturing process is that the nicotine content of our smokeless 

 tobacco products is less than that which occurs naturally in the to- 

 bacco. 



Other than tobacco itself, the only material used in the manufac- 

 ture of U.S. Tobacco's smokeless tobacco products which contains 

 nicotine is denatured alcohol, which is purchased from a supplier 

 as a carrying agent for the application of certain flavorings that do 

 not dissolve in water. 



The denatured alcohol that is used by U.S. Tobacco has been de- 

 natured by its manufacturer with small amounts of nicotine. The 

 use of nicotine as a denaturant for alcohol which is to be used in 

 the processing and manufacturing of tobacco products is specifically 

 approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. 



The amount of nicotine that might be contributed to our smoke- 

 less tobacco products through the use of this denatured alcohol in 

 the manufacturing process is so miniscule as to be unmeasurable 

 by standard laboratory methodologies. 



Mr. Chairman, there were three serious allegations, made before 

 this subcommittee on March 25th, regarding U.S. Tobacco's mar- 

 keting practices. First, the allegation that U.S. Tobacco markets its 

 smokeless tobacco products to persons under the age of 18. 



