Section II 
that relationship for me? I was just curious about that because the questions 
that have been asked of me and that we have been getting into are the health 
implications of FTC numbers, and I was just curious about whether the FTC 
method is there to clarify the Surgeon General's warning, or is it related at 
all, or are they just two completely separate issues? 
MR. PEELER: The FTC method as it was conceived and implemented was 
designed to provide consumers with comparative information about the 
relative tar and nicotine content of cigarettes. We know from the studies 
that we have seen that some groups of consumers look at those numbers 
as indicating a health benefit, which is why the Commission has asked 
the panel to look at the question of whether there is, for example, a dose- 
response relationship between the FTC tar and nicotine ratings and specific 
smoking-related diseases. 
DR. SHIFFMAN: Let me come back to what I consider to be items of 
substantial consensus and maybe that will help us move on. I have not 
heard anyone speak against providing the consumer with more information, 
and so it seems to me that the appropriate education of the American 
smoking consumer is something we can all agree on, and that it is part of the 
intention of the FTC system, to give the consumer appropriate information. 
It seems to me that an important aspect is providing appropriate education 
to the consumer about the meaning of whatever information is conveyed in 
this labeling. 
The second item on which I think we have considerable consensus is 
that in human smoking of particular cigarettes there is a considerable range 
or variability in what the consumer will actually extract from the cigarette. 
That was seen not only in some of the talks from past studies but also in 
the R.J. Reynolds study. So it seems to me the second item of substantial 
consensus is that no single number can completely represent the true 
human yield from a cigarette. Therefore, it seems to me that the direction 
in which we should be trying to move is to represent to the consumer the 
sense of that range in variability and to accompany that with appropriate 
educational measures so that we are providing the consumer with the kind 
of information on which to make informed choices, and I think that is the 
basis on which we ought to go forward. 
DR. FREEMAN: Dr. Cohen? 
DR. COHEN: Dr. Shiffman, could I ask if you would be willing to modify 
your view just a bit? I think that to start exactly at that point is not the right 
place to start because I think consumers want to know two things. They 
want to know if 1 smoke at all, how risky is it, and does that level of risk vary 
with the kind of cigarette I smoke. They want to know that. Now, that may 
be impossible to provide. That is not my field, but they do want it. We 
cannot finesse that issue. 
DR. SHIFFMAN: I quite agree with you, and I think that part of what might 
go into an educational campaign would be about the meaning of these 
numbers or ranges in relation to health outcomes. 
201 
