Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. 7 
First, it ended the ban on tar and nicotine advertising by announcing that 
factual statements of the tar and nicotine content of mainstream cigarette 
smoke could be made if they were supported by tests conducted in accordance 
with the so-called "Cambridge Filter method" and if they were not 
accompanied by claims about reduced health hazards (Federal Trade 
Commission, 1988a). Second, it authorized establishment of a laboratory to 
analyze cigarette smoke and invited public comment on what modifications, 
if any, should be made to the Cambridge Filter method for purposes of the 
laboratory's procedures and how the test results should be expressed {Federal 
Register, 1966). The modified Cambridge Filter method ultimately adopted 
by the Commission is often referred to as the "FTC method." 
By mid-1967 the laboratory was ready to begin testing cigarettes 
{Federal Register, 1967).^ The Commission agreed, pursuant to Senator 
Warren Magnuson's request,'* to report the test results to Congress 
periodically, a process that continues today. 
From the outset, the testing was intended to obtain uniform, 
standardized data about the tar and nicotine yield of mainstream cigarette 
smoke, not to replicate actual human smoking. The Commission recognized 
that individual smoking behavior was just that — too individual to gauge 
what a hypothetical "average" smoker would get from any particular cigarette: 
"No two human smokers smoke in the same way. No individual smoker 
always smokes in the same fashion" (Federal Trade Commission, 1967). The 
purpose of the testing was "not to determine the amount of 'tar' and nicotine 
inhaled by any human smoker, but rather to determine the amount of tar 
and nicotine generated when a cigarette is smoked by machine in accordance 
with the prescribed method" (Federal Trade Commission, 1967). Indeed, the 
Cambridge Filter method did not attempt to duplicate an "average" smoker 
but was "an amalgam of many choices" (Federal Trade Commission, 1967). 
Because no test could accurately duplicate human smoking, the Commission 
believed that the most important thing was to make certain the results 
presented to the public were based on a reasonable, standardized method 
and could be presented to consumers in an understandable manner. 
The Commission next attempted to increase consumer awareness of the 
ratings produced by its laboratory. In 1970 it proposed a trade regulation rule 
that would have required disclosure of tar and nicotine ratings in all cigarette 
’ For the first dozen years of its existence, the laboratory tested only for tar and nicotine. In 1980 the protocol 
was modified to add testing for carbon monoxide. 
^ Expressing the opinion held at that time by many people in the Federal Government, Senator Magnuson 
stated that "By encouraging smokers to switch to low tar/nicotine cigarettes, we can contribute meaningfully 
to the physical health of our nation. Publication of the Commission's testing results is one important facet 
I he Commission expressed its views concerning dissemination of tar and nicotine figures in an 
Odober 1967 letter to the National Association of Broadcasters; "The Commission favors giving smokers 
as much information about the risks involved in smoking as is possible and to that end favors mandatory 
disclosure of tar and nicotine content, as measured by a standard test." 
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