{"id":9604,"date":"2017-07-19T16:48:51","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T16:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=9604"},"modified":"2017-07-19T16:48:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T16:48:51","slug":"warnings-on-us-cigarette-packs-not-as-effective-as-those-in-other-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/warnings-on-us-cigarette-packs-not-as-effective-as-those-in-other-countries\/","title":{"rendered":"Warnings on US cigarette packs not as effective as those in other countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yoojin Cho<\/a>, University of South Carolina<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Cigarette smoke contains more than 9,000 chemicals<\/a>, including more than 60 carcinogens. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there are 93 harmful and potentially harmful chemicals<\/a> found in tobacco products.<\/p>\n

But, when asked, adults in the U.S. can name only a few, such as tar and nicotine<\/a>. How can we ensure that more smokers are aware of the risks? My team\u2019s research suggests that we can look to other countries for an answer.<\/p>\n

Labels around the world<\/h1>\n

To increase the public awareness of toxic chemicals in tobacco products, the World Health Organization (WHO)<\/a> recommends that countries warn the public about toxic ingredients in tobacco products through large warnings with pictures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to a study with a U.S. national sample of adults, health warning labels on cigarette packs are the primary way consumers prefer<\/a> to obtain information on chemicals in tobacco products. Warning labels can
\ninform consumers \u2013 both current smokers and susceptible nonsmokers \u2013 at a minimum cost.<\/p>\n

Pictorial warnings<\/a> are superior to text-only warnings, because they catch consumers\u2019 attention and increase their attempts to quit. For example, in a randomized clinical trial<\/a>, 40 percent of adult smokers who received pictorial warnings attempted to quit smoking, compared to 34 percent of those who received text-only warnings. While this appears to be a small difference, the difference is still meaningful given that warnings can reach a large number of people. <\/p>\n

As such, more than 100 countries<\/a> in the world have implemented pictorial warnings, consistent with the WHO recommendations. Among the over 100 countries, Nepal, Vanuatu, India, Thailand and Australia are leading other countries in terms of the size of the warnings.<\/p>\n

Despite these benefits \u2013 and the fact that consumers want to know more<\/a> in learning about toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke \u2013 the U.S. has not introduced graphic warnings.
\nThe U.S. has also not introduced any novel warning message on harmful and potentially harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke. In fact, its four required warnings have not changed since 1984. Of those four, there\u2019s only one message about toxic chemicals: \u201cCigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide.\u201d<\/p>\n

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