Which cigarettes do Americans think are safer? A population-based analysis with wave 1 of the PATH study

Conflicts and controversies in contemporary tobacco control

“…This has important ramifications given the history of ‘no safe tobacco product’ messages that have long been promoted by health authorities, particularly in the USA. A brief report from Wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study13 finds that users of products marketed with now-banned descriptors (‘light’ and ‘mild’) or currently marketed as ‘additive-free’ or ‘natural’ were more likely to believe that their brands might be ‘less harmful’. A majority of American Spirit smokers reported this belief, despite the brand’s disclaimers.…”

Standardised cigarette packaging may reduce the implied safety of Natural American Spirit cigarettes

“…Nonetheless, focus groups conducted by Byron et al found that many smokers do not notice these warnings and do not find them effective 13. In support of these findings, a national survey, fielded during a time when these disclaimers were on packaging and advertising, reported that more than two-thirds of Natural American Spirit smokers believed their cigarettes were less harmful 2. Most recently, a settlement with Santa Fe Tobacco and the USFDA14 required removal of the term ‘additive-free’ and ‘natural’, save for on NAS’s brand name and trademarks, as well as stipulated that Santa Fe Tobacco enter into discussion with the USFDA and USFTC over the use of the new phrases ‘Tobacco Filler Ingredients: Tobacco & Water’ or ‘Tobacco Ingredients: Tobacco & Water.’…”

“…Although the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 (FSPTCA) essentially banned the marketing of cigarettes as ‘safe’ or ‘safer’ in the USA,1 more than 2.5 million US consumers believe they are smoking a brand of cigarettes that might be ‘less harmful’ 2. This misconception of reduced harm is problematic from a public health perspective, because health-concerned smokers often switch to cigarettes they believe to be safer and delay or abandon quitting 3.…”

“…In the USA, the brand ‘Natural American Spirit’ (NAS) is the cigarette brand most commonly perceived to be lower in harm, with 67% of its current consumers reporting that the brand might be ‘less harmful’ 2. Several studies have discussed how attributes included in NAS packaging and advertising may be partially responsible for perceptions that these cigarettes are less harmful.…”

Effects of health-oriented descriptors on combustible cigarette and electronic cigarette packaging: an experiment among adult smokers in the United States

“…There is emerging evidence that cigarette packaging labelled as ‘natural’ is perceived to be more appealing and less harmful among smokers 2. In a nationally representative sample (Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study (PATH)), the majority of smokers of Natural American Spirit believed that their brand was less harmful 3. Another study among US adults reported that about half of the participants regarded American Spirit cigarette packs that displayed the descriptors ‘Made with Organic Tobacco’ and ‘100% Additive-Free’ (48% and 59%, respectively) as less harmful than packs that were modified to exclude these descriptors 4.…”