xt79p843sf20 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79p843sf20/data/mets.xml   Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. 1960 journals 100 English Lexington : Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Kentucky Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station Progress report (Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station) n.100 text Progress report (Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station) n.100 1960 2014 true xt79p843sf20 section xt79p843sf20 C ig a r et I e S `
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By WILLIAM O. ATKINSON
Progress Report IOO
g (Filing Code I-I)
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
KENTUCKY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
LEXINGTON

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CIGARETTE SIZE AND COMPOSITION
BY WILLIAM O. ATKINSON
Work has continued in the cigarette size and composition study started at the
University of Kentucky in 1956 and reported in Kentucky Farm and Home Science
(Spring 1958). In August 1959, single packages of 37 leading brands, representing
96 percent of the total 1959 domestic cigarette production, were purchased at each
I of five locations in the United States.-U
Ten cigarettes from each pack were dried and weighed. The paper was slit
lengthwise and the tobacco removed. After this the paper (and filter) was reweighed
and the weight of tobacco obtained by the difference of the two weighings. Cigarette
circumference was obtained by measuring the width of the paper. The tobacco from
these 10 cigarettes was ground and mixed for alkaloid determinations. Total cigarette
length and filter length measurements were also made. Two of the remaining cigarettes
in each package of the three leading brands of each of the six major producers were
separated visually into the following fractions; (1) stem, (2) reconstituted tobacco,
(3) Turkish tobacco, (4) flue-cured tobacco and (5) burley tobacco. The separated
fractiors mere checked under a microscope and weighed to determine the percentage
. that wich contributed to the total weight of the cigarette.
SIZE OF CIGARETTES
All brands of the same type (i. e. regular size, king size, etc), of cigarettes
purchased in 1959 were very uniform in size. Circumference was 25 mm and total
length 70, 80, or 85 mm. Filter length varied from 15 mm to 20 mm, with the
majority of brands using a 17 mm length.
Figure 1 shows the cigarette length, filter length and dry weight of tobacco in
each. Since circumference was uniform at 25 mm, the weight of tobacco used was
primarily a function of the length of the tobacco column. It is evident that in types
C, D, and F the amount of tobacco used per cigarette has continued the decline that
was noted in 1957 for all cigarettes. Type A shows a decrease in weight if compared
with the cigarettes of greater circumference made in 1957 but none if compared with
those of the smaller circumference presently used. Manufacturers were able to
produce cigarettes in 1959 of the same length as in 1957 but with a reduction of up
to 8 percent in the amount of tobacco material used. This was made possible, at
least in part, by reducing the circumference of the cigarettes.
No filter cigarette in 1959 contained as much tobacco as did the regular size
non—filter. The production of regular sizes showed a decrease of 22. 8 percent since
1957, king sizes a decrease of 8 percent, while all filtered types increased by 26. 6
percent. 22-/ This demonstrates a second means whereby cigarette manufacturers
were able to produce more cigarettes from the same amount of tobacco.
 
1/ . . . . .
· Washington, D. C. , Lexington, Ky. , Kansas City, Kans. , Madison, Wis. and
Long Beach, Calif.
2/ These percentages were obtained from production estimates contained in Wooten's
Reports from Printer's Ink. Dec. 26, 1958 and Dec. 25, 1959.

 '4" J
  Ax
Cigarette OW-m—dry Wt
A. Soft pack, regular   ()_ 864 (0. 920)
size (0. 851)*
B· Sm  mm jjj
size, filter (15mm) 0. 653 (0. 665)
c. Box, king size _ 0. 931 (0. 970)
“‘ B°"’ mg   _]
filter, (17mm) 0.725 (0.792)
E- S¤¤¤~=k· mg  
size 1.020 (1. 099)
F· M pm mg    ;—J
filter (17mm) 0. 795 (0. 868)
G- Soft pack, mg -1-..-}
size, filter (20mm) ` 0. 737 ( --——- )
0 10 20 3040 90 60 70 80 90
Millimeters
*Smaller diameter
FIG. 1. - IENGTI-I OF TOBACCO COLUMN AND FILTER AND AVERAGE OVEN DRY WEIGHT OF TOBACCO
IN CIGARETTES PURCHASED IN AUGUST 1959 AT 5 LOCATIONS. (FIGURES IN PARENTI-IESES
ARE WEIGI-ITS OF COMPARABLE LENGTH CIGARETTES IN DECEMBER 1957),

 I -5-
USE OF RECONSTITUTED TOBACCO AND STEM MATERIAL
_ Reconstituted tobacco was used extensively in 1959 by three companies in both
filter and non-filter cigarettes, but to a much greater extent in filter cigarettes - 10 to
18 percent vs 4 to 7 percent in nor.»·filter ones. Small quantities of reconstituted to-
bacco ranging from trace amounts to as much as 4 percent were found in certain ciga- I
rettes of the other three companies studied. The companies using the lesser amounts
-4-» of reconstituted tobacco, however, increased their use of stem material, in some
instances using twice as much in 1959 as in 1957. Since an unknown portion of the
reconstituted leaf is undoubtedly made up of stem material, this shows one of the
ways in which the cigarette industry is utilizing a material that formerly was largely
waste.
BLEND COMPOSITION
The blending of the major types of tobaccos (flue-cured and burley) used in ciga-
rette production poses a very difficult problem in attempting to evaluate cigarette compo- `
sition. It seems evident that the composition of each blend lot by a particular company
differs to some extent from any other one. This can be explained by the variation in
physical and chemical properties of the tobaccos used in striving to manufacture a
product with uniform properties. Therefore, one of the ways to control the quality of
the cigarette is by varying the amounts of the materials used. This is readily seen if
the percentages of flue—cured and burley found in one brand puI‘Ch9.S€d at five different
locations in 1959 are shown (Table 1).
TABLE 1. - Percentage of flue—cured and burley tobaccos in one brand of cigarettes
from five locations.
 
Location Flue-Cured Burley*
Percent
I 46 38
II 42 44
III 46 35
IV 50 31
V 50 33
 
*Maryland tobacco was not identified separately and is considered a part of the fraction
labeled burley, which would result in approximately 4 or 5 percent reduction in the
actual burley.

 -6- X" _ U
While specific figures on blend composition are of little general significance, .
the ranges of the amounts of different tobaccos used indicate company differences _
in blending. For instance one company used flue-cured tobacco in amounts ranging '
from 24 to 40 percent and burley from 34 to 36 percent, while another company .
varied from 36 to 50 percent in flue—cured used and 23 to 36 percent in amounts of _
burley used. Turkish tobacco was found in amounts of from 3 percent to 7 percent,
indicating a small increase in use over 1957. The amounts of Turkish tobacco found
may be slightly low because of the difficulty in obtaining complete accuracy in sepa-
rating certain of the fractions. ”‘
TABLE 2. — The percentage of total alkaloids (nicotine) found in the tobacco of ciga-
rettes manufactured by 6 major companies in 1957 and 1959.
 
1957 1959
Company Regular King Size Filter Regular King Size Filter
A 2.23 2.05 2.22 1.99 1.82 1.91
B 2. 18 2.28 2.38 1.77 1.74 1.86
C 1. 84 1. 95 1. 99 1. 55 1. 62 1. 64
D 2. 16 1.93 2.04 2.15 1.83 1.89
E 2.05 2.11 2.23 1.68 1.67 1.71
F 2.41 2.29 2.09 1.37 1.34 1.34
Average 2. 15 2. 10 2. 16 1. 75 1. 67 1. 72
 
NICOTINE CONTENT
Table 2 shows the average nicotine contents for the different types of cigarettes
produced in 1957 and 1959 by the six leading companies. Reduction in nicotine content
was industry wide for all types of cigarettes. Some of the factors that may have con-
tributed to this reduction in nicotine content are (1) milder tobacco grown in 1956 and
1957, (2) use of larger amounts of reconstituted tobacco, (3) increased use of stem
material and (4) technological advancements which have made it possible to reduce
the nicotine content of tobacco before it is manufactured into cigarettes.
DISCUSSION
Uniformity of product is the goal of any manufacturing concern. In the manufacture
of cigarettes, the achievement of this goal is made extremely difficult by the complexity
and variability of the raw material (tobacco) that is used. The tremendous expansion in
research facilities by all tobacco companies during the past decade bears witness of this,
and as a result they have been able to deal more effectively with the problems which have
been encountered during this period.

 -7..
The use of reconstituted tobacco, presently used to some extent by all six of
T the leading cigarette manufacturers, increased during the period of this study as
` did the use of stem material. This greater use of materials that formerly were
not extensively used in cigarette manufacturing coupled with the general reduction
in cigarette circumference and increased filter length has made possible the pro-
duction of substantially more cigarettes from the same amount of raw tobacco.
Flue-cured and burley tobaccos constitute about 90 percent of most cigarettes
(this would include stem material and reconstituted leaf where used). Although there
was conclusive evidence that certain companies regularly used larger amounts of flue-
cured and less burley than others, it is difficult or impossible to establish definite
composition percentages. It seems certain from this study that, within certain ranges,
the amount of flue-cured and burley tobacco used by any one company in manufacturing
a given lot of cigarettes may vary considerably. This leads to the conclusion that,
again within certain limits, the amount of flue-cured or burley tobacco used depends
upon the supply and the relative quality, or usefulness, of the two tobaccos as determined
by company specifications.
Perhaps the greatest change observed during this period of the study was the
marked reduction in nicotine content of cigarettes. This was true for all companies
and nearly every individual brand studied. Several new brands appeared on the
market near the end of the study which were even lower in nicotine than the established
brands produced by the same companies. This again reflects the industry‘s desire to
market a product that meets the demand of the smoking public and makes use of inno-
vations that were not known or were impractical a few years ago.
Several changes have been noted during the course of this study which have been
discussed in some detail. It is logical to assume that the coming years will see many
more changes instituted by this very competitive industry. _
2. SM--1-61