2023-11-22 19:35:39
INFO LE FIGARO – Despite the European ban on menthol since 2020, manufacturers are adding additives to create the same sensation of freshness and better attract consumers. Public authorities are struggling to react.
A veil of fresh smoke hangs over the tobacco industry. “ Do you have menthol cigarettes ? » « No, but we have cigarettes “fresh” who replace them. » This is what you can hear today in a tobacco shop. Menthol cigarettes, which stimulate oral receptors and reduce the smell of tobacco in the mouth to better attract the consumer, have been banned throughout the European Union since 2020. But manufacturers have managed to circumvent this legislation, and the authorities are struggling to answer to…
Flashback: in 2014, the Parliament and the European Council banned “characterizing flavors” in cigarettes. Chocolate, vanilla or fruit flavors, which particularly appealed to young consumers, are no longer authorized; menthol, for its part, obtains a reprieve until 2020. But this notion of “characterizing aroma” is criticized, because Europe defines it simply as “ a clearly identifiable smell or taste other than that of tobacco “. Industries have adapted and developed several strategies to circumvent the law, such as adding compounds which, like menthol, cause the sensation of freshness in the mouth without having the smell or taste of mint. This additive helps blur the taste of the cigarette, making it more pleasant. And the strategy is particularly effective among young people in making them addicted to tobacco. “ When we ban something that generates sales, manufacturers will look for something else that escapes regulation. », denounces the professor of addiction at the Timone hospital (AP-HM) Nicolas Simon.
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A refreshing power much greater than menthol
An American study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October 2023 indeed shows that “ new freshness molecules have been found in American cigarettes “. The researchers extracted flavors from tobacco components and then injected them into cells expressing menthol receptors. In the presence of “freshness” substances, cells produce electrical signals which are recorded, thus making it possible to evaluate the “refreshing” power of the compound tested. And some compounds extracted from cigarettes have been found to have much greater cooling power than menthol.
« These results mean that these cigarettes “non-mentholated” produce menthol-like effects when smoked, making it easier to inhale the other, more unpleasant components of tobacco smoke », Hanno Erythropel, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement. One of the new molecules found, WS-3, is particularly worrying because it has a greater cooling power than the reference product (used before the ban on menthol) and is toxic to rodents.
A compound “compliant with legislation”
Contacted by Le Figarothe Health Safety Agency (ANSES) did not wish to answer our questions, telling us that it “ provides scientific and technical support to the ministry on these subjects “. However, it publishes on its website the compounds that tobacco manufacturers say they use to produce their cigarettes. The compound WS-3 is listed under “ herbal smoking product » (while it is defined as a “ synthetic compound » by American researchers), whose function is to be a “ aroma and/or taste enhancer “. As for the General Directorate of Health (DGS), it recognizes the problem of cigarettes with the name “fresh”, but specifies that manufacturers have declared these compounds “ comply with legislation, to the extent that the reduced levels of additives in the composition place them below the sensory detection threshold, and therefore would not be flavorings “characteristics””. Here again, this is contrary to what the results of the American study show, which points to a “ strong sensory action of compound WS-3 ».
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In its collective expert report from March 2022, ANSES, responsible for evaluating the effects of tobacco products on human health in France, highlights the difficulty of identifying the additive at the origin of a flavor characterizing, for several reasons. It is difficult to look for them in cigarettes because chemical analysis cannot differentiate an additive from the ingredients in a cigarette. ANSES therefore uses the composition information transmitted by the manufacturers. Thus, she considers in her opinion that “ the sole regulation of additives constitutes a legal weakness and that this framework should be adapted to apply as much as possible to the ingredients, substances actually present in the finished product “. ANSES then recommends a chemical analysis program and the establishment of regulations by developing an updateable list of substances and families of substances to be banned. The DGS specifies that “ given the involvement of several European countries, and the necessary exchanges which took place to consolidate the results of the analyzes carried out on these products, this procedure proved to be very long »
Hooking effect and speed of addiction
« In France, normally all tobacco products are declared to ANSES. In 2020 manufacturers circumvented the regulations banning characterizing flavors but not menthol residues which are still authorized, a way of circumventing the ban », Declares Amélie Eschenbrenner, communications manager at the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT). However, these compounds come into play in the onset of addiction. The pr Nicolas Simon indeed specifies that “ certain additives potentiate the addictogenic effect of nicotine. In any addictogenic substance we distinguish two parameters, the hook and the speed of addiction. “. The hook causes pleasant sensations, the speed of addiction is the time taken by a substance to make the user dependent. The rate of addiction to cigarettes is lower than that of other drugs, thus “ the search for a quick hook is a lever allowing the installation of addiction “. Menthol compounds allow this quick grip, and the addictologist indicates that “ Tobacco manufacturers are constantly looking for additives » having this effect.
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Some countries have adapted their legislation. This is for example the case of Canada, which lists the compounds authorized in cigarettes. Nevertheless, here again manufacturers have undertaken to circumvent the law thanks to other strategies, such as menthol cards (a card to slide into the pack and which transmits an aroma to the cigarettes contained inside) or menthol balls (which we place in the filter after having pierced it). They are not subject to tobacco law… but offer the same minty or fruity taste banned for several years.
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