762 



Mr. Bryant. The lowest tar brand of Merits, the Ultima, actually 

 has the highest concentration of nicotine, which would seem to 

 imply that in making the Ultima, you use a tobacco blend with a 

 higher concentration of nicotine than you used in making the Merit 

 filters. Is that true? 



Mr. Campbell. We have been trying to get the background infor- 

 mation to the equivalent of this chart from Dr. Kessler's office ever 

 since it was published and we can't explain this data. We don't use 

 this kind of measurement. So it's very difficult for us to answer. 



Mr. Bryant. You are in on the decisions about how to make the 

 product. Did you use a tobacco blend with a higher concentration 

 of nicotine in making Ultima than you used in making Merit fil- 

 ters? 



Mr. Campbell. Absolutely not. In fact, I have a chart along with 

 me, if you're willing to take the time to have my colleague Mr. 

 Bumely explain to you, for instance, the difference in hov/ we make 

 a Merit filter and a Merit Ultima and how we end up with 8 milli- 

 grams of tar and 0.6 milligrams of nicotine on a Merit filter and 

 how we get it down to 1 milligram and 0.1 milligram of nicotine. 



It will take a few minutes, but if you'd like to take the time, we'd 

 be happy to explain to you how we do that. 



Mr. Bryant. What I am interested in is knowing whether or not 

 you used a tobacco blend on purpose that has a higher concentra- 

 tion of nicotine in one cigarette than you did in another one. 



Mr. Campbell. No. We'd be happy to show you. What we do with 

 the Merit Ultima is that we use some different grades of tobacco, 

 but we only use 40 percent real tobacco, leaf tobacco, then we use 

 reconstituted or processed tobacco and expanded tobacco. Then 

 we — ^but the expanded tobacco means that you're taking the weight 

 down. 



Mr. Bryant. The key question 



Mr. Campbell. So, in fact, you're taking the — there is no con- 

 centration of nicotine in these low tar cigarettes because of the way 

 we've reduced the weight. 



Mr. Bryant. But the key question is whether you knowingly use 

 a tobacco blend with a higher concentration of nicotine in one type 

 than you do in another type. 



Mr. Campbell. We are not using — when it ends up, it is inside 

 the rod and the way it is delivered to the consumer, we are deliver- 

 ing, in no uncertain terms, 1 milligram of tar and 0.1 milligrams 

 of nicotine. 



Mr. Bryant. Let me just get a yes or no answer from you about 

 this. Do you use a tobacco blend with a higher concentration of nic- 

 otine in making Ultima than you use in making Merit filters? Yes 

 or no? 



Mr. Campbell. Are you taking into account both the leaf tobacco, 

 the reconstituted and the expanded tobacco? The answer would be 

 no, 



Mr. Bryant. Just the leaf tobacco. 



Mr. Campbell. That's only 40 percent of the tobacco. 



Mr. Bryant. OK. Well, with regard to that portion of the tobacco, 

 yes or no? 



Mr. Campbell. That tobacco is there for taste and flavor. We 

 need the taste and flavor. 



