793 



^^^-/z^.?^' 



Tobacco Company 



February 28, 1994 JAM6S w. Johnston 



Chairman and 

 Chief Executive Olficer 



r-> .JAT^ 1 »m Winston-Salem. N.C. 27102 



David A. Kessler, M.D. 919-741-792S 



Commissioner of Food and Drugs 

 Food and Drug Administration 

 Department of Health ic Human Services 

 RockviUe,MD 20887 



Dear Dr. Kessler 



This letter is intended to clarify one simple fact that R-J. Reynolds Tobacco 

 Company does not increase the nicotine in its cigarettes above what is found nattirally 

 in tobacco. In fact, our processes reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes when 

 compared to unprocessed tobacco. 



Reynolds manufactures and sells a broad range of cigarette products designed to 

 appeal to the tastes of today's adult cigarette smokers. Smokers have increasingly 

 demanded lower "tar" cigarettes. As a result of the processes used to lower "tar", nicotine 

 has also been reduced. Over the past 40 years, the average "tar" And nicotine in cigarettes 

 sold in the U.S. has declined by more than 60%. 



The variety of cigarettes available is, in large part, a result of blending techniques 

 developed over a long history of cigarette manufactxire and research. In addition to 

 traditional tobacco blending techniques, various other techniques are available to 

 cigarette manufacturers, including puffing of tobacco, filtration, air dilution, tobacco 

 reconstitution and others, in order to enable manufacturers to reduce the "tar" and 

 nicotine yields in their cigarettes. As a result of these various techniques, the sales 

 weighted averages of "tar" and nicotine yields in the United States today are 11.5 

 milligrams and 0.8 milligram, respectively. 



In the early 1950's the sales weighted averages of "tar" and nicotine yields were 36 

 milligrams and Z7 milligrams, respectively. Most cigarette brands were in a narrow 

 band around this average. Rue-cured tobacco naturally contains 2.5 to 3.5 percent 

 nicotine, burley tobacco contains 2.75 to 4.0 percent nicotine, and Oriental tobacco 

 contains 0.5 to 1.8 percent nicotine in the cured leaf. Finished cigarettes generally 

 contain approximately 1.5 to 2.5% nicotine by weight, less than the natural cured leaf. 



