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ENDs products no safer than cigarettes- generate dual users – designed to keep youth and adults addicted to nicotine

Dear Panel members,

the enhanced addictiveness of RECON used exclusively in iQos HEETS

iQos Heets use cast leaf technology aka RECON (reconstituted tobacco)

The veins, stalks and stems, leaf dust (named OFFAL) from the cigarette production process are mixed with chemicals in a slurry to create a Recon sheet.

https://startobacco.biz/reconstituted-tobacco/

The manufacturer can fine tune the addictiveness of the RECON product and using a smaller amount of RECON.

http://www.jeffreywigand.com/theinsider.php

see The Insider Dr Wigand’s expert report under –‘Testimonies’ – ‘Dr Wigand’s WHO Expert Report’

Search the report for ‘Recon’

The Report is eye opening and informatory.

For your ease of reference I attach some sections on RECON from the WHO Expert report:

Quote:

“The use of RECON is the one of the principal methods of introducing acid base ammonia  chemistry and other additives into the USB non-menthol cigarette blend. RECON can be  considered a chemical-additive delivery system in addition to the casing process of tobacco.  Ammonia chemistry is utilized for several reasons; 1) to scavenge nicotine from each blend  component; 2) to equalize the concentration of nicotine in the tobacco column rod; and 3) to modify pH such that nicotine becomes a free base.

Free nicotine, which is controlled by smoke pH, is a more potent form of nicotine that is in the gas phase rather than bound nicotine that is in  the particulate phase.  The extensive use of ammonia chemistry in RECON converts the salt  linked or protonated nicotine into “free” nicotine that has a higher potency than its salt/protonated form.  Free nicotine it is not detected by the smoking machine analysis of tar and  nicotine since it is in the gaseous state not in the particulate state of matter.

The primary importance of RECON is neither the utilization of manufacturing waste nor  the enhancement of economy of manufacture.  Rather, RECON is important because it  introduces a significant amount of additives into the cigarette blend. These additives accomplish  two distinct purposes: 1) they increase the addictive capacity of the cigarette and 2) they facilitate the ease of smoking by ameliorating the effects of inhaling smoke.

 RECON tobacco comprises about 20-30% of a USB cigarette’s blend formulation on a  w/w basis.  It is a chemically manipulated material using abundant additives, such as glycerol, licorice, cocoa, honey, polyethyleneglycol (PEG), simple sugars, invert sugars and ammonia based additives such as ammonium hydroxide, urea and diammonium hydrogen phosphate  (DAP). The ammonia based additives in RECON play a key role in the manipulation of nicotine.

The finished product is a highly energized chemical matrix which forms the basis of many of the  chemical reactions occurring in the tobacco rod column, such as nicotine scavenging, generation of free nicotine, smoke pH manipulation, and formation of some flavor reaction products.

  1. Raw material components and composition of RECON

RECON is produced utilizing by numerous by-products of the cigarette manufacturing process.  There are three (3) distinct RECON types; Paper I, Paper II and band cast. The raw material used to make RECON contains the following components:

1) Offal or the tobacco dust generated in either the Green Leaf Trashing (GLT) plant or in the Primary manufacturing process.  The GLT Plant strips and removes the veins of the tobacco leaf into large strips of lamina and produces a by-product called stems.  Stems can be utilized either as a cigarette blend component or as one of the sources of raw material for RECON.

 

2) The primary portion of the manufacturing plant produces the fines and winnowers when tobacco, a moisture sensitive biomaterial is moved rapidly through the

manufacturing process, either pneumatically or via high-speed conveyor belts. This aspect of the manufacturing process causes dehydration and brittleness of the tobacco material, and therewith the formation of tobacco fines and dust (offal).

3) Stems produced at the GLT Plant

4) Tobacco fines or winnowers

5) Product Reclaim.  Finished product that is collected from the distribution channel is returned to the manufacturing plant for reprocessing.  This includes the finished goods that, due to moisture content loss, are deemed unsuitable for smoking due to increased irritation, harshness and the fact that they pose a fire hazard.

 6) Unique tobacco cultivars are used either to augment nicotine content or to augment or enhance flavor attributes of the final RECON product.

 7) Cellulosic material from wood pulp added for fiber content

 3. Band cast reconstituted tobacco (Dark RECON)

Band cast uses the same starting raw materials but differs fundamentally from the paper  making RECON process. Unlike the paper process, band cast is made by adding the stock raw  tobacco materials (see list above) and prescribed chemical additives into one reaction vessel. 

The tobacco material is then pulverized with the additives forming a thermally and chemically reacted slurry mixture.  The sheet is made by pouring the slurry into a “doctor blade” which  regulates the amount of slurry that is applied to a moving S/S non-perforated belt.  The basis weight can be controlled at this point.

The slurry mixture then goes through three separate heating zones where the water content is reduced forming a solid sheet.  This solid sheet is then cut into irregular pieces and boxed in a similar manner to the paper RECON.”

 

See also

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-on-smoking-and-covid-19

Kind regards,

James Middleton

Chairman

Clear the Air NGO

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CTA says:

Why has the insipid Hong Kong Govt not sued Big Tobacco for the massive costs of health care treatment caused by their tobacco consumer product which kills 2 in every 3 of its users ? http://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-015-0281-z

Yet again in Legco on 17th January 2016 the tobacco company representatives tried their bully-boy tactics, threat to sue all and sundry etc, the same tactics which have already failed miserably in high court and subsequent legal appeals overseas, regarding plain packaging and Health Graphic warnings, claimed loss of tobacco trademarks and intellectual property rights caused by Govts changing the packaging of their ‘Silent Salesman’ advertising carton packaging.

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Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday sued two tobacco companies that she says are failing to pay millions owed to the state as part of a landmark settlement.

http://staugustine.com/2017-01-19/florida-attorney-general-goes-after-2-tobacco-companies

Bondi’s office, which filed the lawsuit in Palm Beach County, asserts that the state is already owed US$45 million and could lose $30 million a year going forward.

Nearly two decades ago, several of the nation’s largest tobacco companies negotiated a multibillion-dollar settlement with Florida to compensate the state for treating sick smokers. The state is projected to receive nearly US$356 million this current budget year in settlement payments.

The lawsuit contends that after R.J. Reynolds sold the cigarette brands of Winston, Kool and Salem to ITG Brands, both companies refused to make payments related to those brands. ITG Brands, the U.S. subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco, acquired the brands when Reynolds and Lorillard merged in 2015.

“The sale of major, pre-existing tobacco brands to another company for billions of dollars does not cause the payment obligations to vanish like a puff of smoke,” said Bondi in a statement. “I look forward to the state obtaining prompt relief.”

Florida filed its lawsuit a day after British American Tobacco announced that it is taking over Reynolds American in a US$49 billion deal.

Neither Reynolds nor ITG Brands responded to phone calls requesting comment.

Pushed by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles, Florida was one of the first states in the U.S. to seek damages from tobacco companies. The state’s lawsuit sought reimbursement for Medicaid costs in the past and future and contended that tobacco companies had engaged in unlawful actions and misleading advertising.