If you ever wanted to find out what are the ingredients of your favorite drink or candy, all you had to do is check the composition indicated on the package. But that’s not the case of cigarettes, because simple smokers could never discover this murky mystery.

For decades, tobacco industry has been using various additives and chemical substances, allegedly to increase the strength of nicotine, enhance flavor and conceal harshness of tobacco. However, there was almost no information on the impact these ingredients can have on health of smokers, because tobacco companies have not been forced to disclose the constituents of their cigarette brands.

The secret could be revealed very soon, as the American Food and Drug Administration appointed a committee to examine dangerous ingredients in cigarettes. After several meetings, the scientists would draw a list of ingredients and their potential harm to the FDA, which was entitled to regulate tobacco industry last year.

“We hope the new FDA regulations will force cigarette-makers to disclose what ingredients they put in their cigarettes and for what purpose,” admits Norman Edelman, of the American Lung Association. “We have been highly concerned that these constituents present health risks, and nobody is aware of what these constituents are.”

In the 1950s, cigarettes contained almost no additives and few chemicals. However, as cigarette-makers were willing to decrease the amount of nicotine in their products in response to growing criticism, they began using additives to offset the loss of strength and flavor.

According to recently disclosed internal documentation, additives accounted for 10% of each cigarette by the 1990s. Though the chemicals contained in cigarettes are a mystery heavily protected by tobacco companies, many studies, internal documents, and leaked information have provided some data on the general constituents of the cigarettes.

Some of such substances – like sugar or cocoa – are not dangerous, and widely-used in the food industry. Yet, other chemicals are toxic and highly dangerous. Among such additives there are ammonia, butane, isobutene, acetone, nitrosamines, and other toxic chemicals.

Scientists admit those additives and chemicals make it easier for smokers to light up and puff on their cigarettes, and increase the rate of nicotine absorption. And each of these ingredients could present health risk.

“It is evident that cigarettes are not what they used to be, not tobacco leaves cut and rolled in paper,” states Danny McGoldrick, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids vice chairman. “Cigarettes are advanced devices that deliver a highly addictive drug.”

The impact of some constituents is better studied than that of others. Probably, the largest part of studies related to cigarettes’ ingredients, is devoted to ammonia, which is found in tobacco in diminutive levels, and which has been an ingredient of cigarettes since the 1950s.

Ammonia is considered to improve the taste of cigarettes, but as well it rises the level of absorption of nicotine, according to the studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Currently, the Food and Drug Administration examines the ingredients of cigarettes, the impact of menthol flavoring and public health and the effects of smokeless tobacco products on the consumers.

By Sara Norton, Staff Writer. Copyright © 2010 Cigarette-Store.org. All rights reserved.