10 



Mr. Kessler. This was like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

 The invoices are addressed to Brown & Williamson Tobacco Cor- 

 poration, Louisville, Kentucky, from Souza Cruz Overseas. 



They refer to 'Tour Order Project Y-1," and reveal that more 

 than a half a million pounds, more than 500,000 pounds of Y-1 to- 

 bacco was shipped to Brown & Williamson on September 21, 1992. 

 Late last Friday, once it became clear that the agency already 

 knew about Y-1, Brown & Williamson told FDA that 3.5 to 4 mil- 

 lion pounds of Y-1 tobacco are currently being stored in company 

 warehouses in the United States. More significantly. Brown & 

 Williamson revealed that Y-1 had, in fact, been commercialized. 



Mr. Chairman, these brands of cigarettes, Raleigh Lights, Rich- 

 land Lights King Size, Viceroy King Size, Viceroy Lights King Size, 

 and Richland King Size, were manufactured and distributed na- 

 tionally in 1993 with a tobacco blend that contains approximately 

 10 percent of the high-nicotine tobacco called Y-1. 



Company officials explained that one of the reasons they devel- 

 oped Y-1 was to be able to reduce tar while maintaining nicotine 

 levels. 



Let me now move on to the second area, the chemical manipula- 

 tion of nicotine. In April of this year, the six major American ciga- 

 rette companies released a list of 599 ingredients added to tobacco. 

 Among those chemicals were several ammonia compounds. Many 

 people have wondered why the cigarette industry would add ammo- 

 nia compounds to tobacco. In fact, there are many uses of ammonia 

 in cigarettes. One is denicotizing; two, strengthening the adhesive 

 matrix of reconstituted tobacco; three, it is used to react with sug- 

 ars to produce certain flavor compounds; four, investigation has re- 

 vealed another important use — to affect the delivery of nicotine to 

 the smoker. 



Let me refer to one company's 1991 handbook on leaf blending 

 and product development which describes this use. 



The handbook states: "Cigarette smoke ammonia is entirely dif- 

 ferent from the way ammonia reacts with sugars in tobacco. It can 

 liberate free nicotine from the blend which is associated with in- 

 creases in impact and 'satisfaction' reported by smokers." 



The handbook also describes ammonia as an "impact booster." 

 "Ammonia, when added to a tobacco blend, reacts with the indige- 

 nous nicotine salts and liberates free nicotine." As a result of such 

 change, the ratio of extractable nicotine to bound nicotine in the 

 smoke may be altered in favor of the extractable nicotine." 



"As we know, extractable nicotine contributes to impact in ciga- 

 rette smoke and this is how ammonia can act as an impact boost- 

 er. 



Ammonia's role is further explained elsewhere in the handbook: 

 "This means that at the same blend alkaloid content, a cigarette 

 incorporating ammonia technology will deliver more flavor com- 

 pounds, including nicotine, into smoke than one without it." 



Understand, Mr. Chairman, that only a fraction of the nicotine 

 in the tobacco gets inhaled by the smoker; ammonia technology en- 

 ables more nicotine to be delivered to the smoker. How much more? 

 It is our understanding, based on smoke analysis described in that 

 company handbook, that an experimental cigarette made of recon- 



