12.6.7 Additives in Australian cigarettes

Since the year 2000 there has been a voluntary agreement between the Commonwealth and the tobacco manufacturers for the disclosure of the ingredients in Australian cigarettes. ¹ There are composite disclosures of hundreds of ingredients that companies say they potentially use. There are also brand-by-brand disclosures that list the major ingredients in descending order by weight. However, the industry claims that it cannot disclose all of the additives used in particular brands because that would mean giving up trade secrets and losing competitive advantage. Thus, it is not currently possible for consumers to know all of the ingredients used in each brand or the levels at which they are added.

Table 12.6.7.1 lists the additives in Australian cigarettes that were voluntarily disclosed to the Australian Government in 2020 by BAT Australia, Philip Morris and Imperial, the three main companies supplying cigarettes in Australia. The tobacco companies refer to these additives as ‘ingredients’. These include additives in the tobacco filler as well as other parts of the cigarette, such as the filter, paper wrap, adhesives and inks (see Sections 12.8.1 and 12.8.2 for further information on these components). Additives to the tobacco filler are designated as flavour (non-water-soluble mix of flavourings), casing (a water-soluble mix of favours and other additives), binder or humectant (chemicals that retain moisture).

Most of the additives listed in Table 12.6.7.1 are burned and their burned products become part of the emissions that are inhaled by smokers and people near them. Exceptions are the filter, tipping paper and inks used on these components. However, unburned chemicals from these components may still be inhaled. As most of the toxic chemicals in smoke are produced by the burning process (see Section 12.4) the toxic chemicals produced from the burning of these additives are not in the list of additives.