Health alliance hits use of misleading descriptors in cigarette brands

A health alliance today hits the use of a descriptors in cigarette packages, saying such mislead the public, especially the young people, in believing that a cigarette could be “mild” or “light” in its ill-effects on one’s health.

Dr Maricar Limpin of the tobacco control advocacy group Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance-Philippines (FCAP) in a statement said the deceptive descriptors like “mild”, “light”, “super light” or “low tar” in a particular tobacco brand should be dropped.

Limpin refers to the use of the descriptor like “mild”, “light”, “super light” or “low tar” in the cigarette brand Mild Seven, which surfaced, among other issues, in the ongoing committee hearings of the House of Representatives on HB 3364, or the Picture-Based Health Warning Bill. Mild Seven representatives had argued that the term ‘mild’ is part of the brand and should be allowed to be used in the cigarette pack.

“The point is not about taking Mild out of ‘Mild Seven,” Limpin continued. “The wordings in the draft bill are clear: remove descriptors or such words or symbols that are misleading. Words on the cigarette pack will only be taken out if they are misleading.”

Limpin also stressed that nobody wants to mislead anyone into poor health, and asked, “What is the point of putting more effective warning on the one hand and allowing them to mislead on the other?”

The language of the bill is reasonable, Limpin continued, and said it will not take out “mild” in the brand unless it is misleading.

According to an international monitoring report, 43 countries have already passed laws to ban ‘light’ and ‘mild’ descriptors, including Australia, Canada, Venezuela, Chile, Israel, Brazil, among others.

“It is sad to note that while a number of countries have banned the use of these misleading descriptors, we are still arguing whether they should be banned or not, just because it is part of a brand. In fact, other countries have banned Mild Seven, and a US court has declared the use of ‘light’ and ‘mild’ by the tobacco industry as fraudulent,” Limpin said.

“We do not want to be a country that legitimizes what has been made illegal, so to speak, in other countries,” Limpin added.

According to Limpin, terms such as ‘low tar,’ ‘light,’ ‘ultra-light,’ or ‘mild’ which are used by cigarette companies create a false impression that a particular tobacco product is less harmful than other tobacco products.

“These are descriptors that are false, misleading, and deceptive, and hence should not be used in any way as to be printed on a cigarette pack or used in a brand or trademark,” Limpin stressed. (end)