20 



DNA Plant Technology, and following our letter to Brown & 

 Williamson indicating that Brown and Williamson had not been 

 cooperative with our investigation. Brown & Williamson told FDA 

 that, in fact, three and a half to four million 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 — Viceroy King 

 Size, Viceroy Lights King Size, Richland King Size, Richland 

 Lights King Size, and Raleigh Lights King Size — were 

 manufactured and distributed nationally in 1993 with a tobacco 

 blend that contains approximately 10 percent of this genetically- 

 bred high-nicotine tobacco called Y-l. (Chart 15) 



When we asked company officials why they were originally 

 interested in developing a high-nicotine variety of tobacco, they 

 told FDA that they wanted to be able to reduce tar, while 

 maintaining nicotine levels. 



II. THE CHEMICAL MANIPULATION OF NICOTINE 

 Let me now move on to the second area. In April, the six 

 major American cigarette companies released a list of 599 

 ingredients added to tobacco. Nicotine is not one of the 

 additives listed. But Mr. Chairman, a number of chemicals on 

 that list increase the amount of nicotine that is delivered to 

 the smoker. 



Around the time the list was made public, a great deal of 

 interest was directed toward substances on the list that sounded 

 particularly toxic. Among those frequently mentioned was 

 ammonia. Many people may have wondered why the cigarette 

 industry would add ammonia to tobacco. In fact, there are many 

 uses of ammonia. Our investigations have revealed an 

 important one. 



Let me refer to a major American tobacco company's 1991 

 handbook on leaf blending and product development. The handbook 

 describes two ways that ammonia can be used in cigarette 



