§ Mr. David Walderasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what health tests have been carried out and with what results on those brands of cigarettes sold to the public as not containing nicotine.
§ Dr. OwenBrands of cigarettes with sales in the United Kingdom of 10 million or more cigarettes per year are tested each month at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist for their tar and nicotine yields. Nicotine-free, or herbal, cigarettes have not been included in these regular tests because their annual sales were believed to be less than 10 million and the manufacturers were not a party to the voluntary agreement on these testing arrangements. A few cigarettes from two herbal brands have been tested, and although the results cannot be regarded as generally applicable to herbal cigarettes they showed that while there was no nicotine yield, the tar yield was not lower than that of the average tobacco cigarette.