sample="rhetorical" bates="80718784" isource="ll" decade="1970" class="ni" date="19760914" LORILLAR D FINDS TWO OF ITS BRANDS MEET CRITERIA SET BY HEALTH OFFICIAL Lorillard's TRUE cigarette is the best selling of all brands to qualify at one pack per day when evaluated by the "3 more significant constituents" identified by Dr. Gio B. Gori, Director of the National Cancer Institute's Smoking and Health Program, in the current issue of Science magazine. When measured by all 6 of the critical value criteria that Dr. Gori developed, TRUE qualifies at one-half pack per day, as does Lorillard's KENT Golden Lights cigarette. This was announced today by Dr. A. W. Senior Vice President, at the company's Greensboro, N.C., headquarters where Lorillard Research scientists applied Dr. Gori's newly announced scoring method to assess smoke composition data for the top selling low tar cigarette brands. Lorillard, a division of Loew's Theatres, Inc., has been a leader in developing and marketing low tar cigarettes for more than 20 years. The company's KENT cigarette pioneered the development of popular low tar filter cigarettes in the 1950's. In 1957, KENT at 25.6 mg tar was the lowest of 26 brands reported by The Reader's Digest. TRUE cigarettes were introduced in 1966, with tar yields around 13 mg per cigarette. This was lowered to 5 mg this summer. KENT Golden Lights were introduced to the market in late 1975 and yield 8 mg tar. Tar and most of the compounds in cigarette smoke are by-products of tobacco combustion. Tobacco chemists have found that reducing many of these does not seriously alter the taste of the cigarette. On the other hand, Nic., Nicotine which is naturally present Out in tobacco as well as in smoke, has been identified as a key contributor to smoker satisfaction. Commenting on the trend to lower tar yields over the years, Dr. Spears explained that Lorillard Research has focused its efforts on ways to selectively reduce tar and other smoke constituents while maintaining the essential flavor elements that smoker seek. Dr. Gori, who heads the National Cancer Institute's search for less hazardous cigarettes, noted that the industry now has the technology for manufacturing cigarettes where a half a pack to a pack per day will meet the criteria he devised. He called for "responsible marketing decision in the cigarette industry" and for "a major public education drive leading smokers to new patterns of acceptance" of the lower tar cigarette. The data on ten leading brands of cigarettes that yield less than 10 mg tar (see Attachment) show only three brands, TRUE, Carlton and Now, as meeting all six of Dr. Gori's criteria for 10 or more cigarettes per day, or permitting as many as 20 cigarettes (1 pack) a day for the three most significant criteria in the Science article. TRUE sold 9.32 billion cigarettes in 1975, far more than the 5.01 billion of the other two qualifying brands combined. Commenting on the new findings, Curtis H. Judge, President of Lorillard, noted that the qualification of TRUE and KENT Golden Lights under the Gori criteria reflect the company's long established commitment to developing and marketing cigarettes at reduced levels of tar and nicotine. He added that "in response to ever increasing consumer demand, we are continuing our research to reduce even further the smoke components that do not contribute to taste, while creating tobacco blends that will maintain smoker satisfaction at lower tar levels". -End -