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Do cigarettes contain traces of pig blood?
Dutch research finds blood protein in some cigarette filters, an ingredient that currently can be hidden in the catch-all term 'processing aids.'
Wed, Mar 31 2010 at 12:51 PM
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Photo: Super Fantastic/Flickr
Smokers may be getting a lot more than they bargain for when lighting up — like inhaling traces of pig’s blood. Pig hemoglobin is sometimes used in cigarette filters, according to recent Dutch research reported by The Daily Telegraph — a disclosure that is bound to upset many devout Muslims and Jews.
Islamic and Jewish religious texts expressly forbid consumption of pork in any form, and vegetarians may find this hidden ingredient unpalatable as well.
"It just puts into hard relief the problem that the tobacco industry is not required to declare the ingredients of cigarettes ... they say 'that's our business' and a trade secret,” University of Sydney public health professor Simon Chapman told The Daily Telegraph. Chapman is a sociologist with a Ph.D. on the study of the signs, symbols, and significance of cigarette advertising as well as a book author.
Though many tobacco companies now voluntarily provide ingredient lists on their website, the swine-derived blood protein is reportedly hidden within "processing aids ... that are not significantly present in, and do not functionally affect, the finished product,” says Chapman.
But cigarette formulas won’t remain so secretive for much longer. In June, tobacco companies must furnish complete ingredient lists to the FDA, including any studies the companies have done on those ingredients.
The FDA will then determine which ingredients could make cigarettes more harmful or addictive and could eventually ban certain ingredients. However, quick action is unlikely.
"Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don't know what's in them," Lawrence R. Deyton, the director of the Food and Drug Administration's new Center for Tobacco Products and a physician, told The Associated Press.
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Disgusting ... all the more reason to quit smoking. It is astonishing, how far people are willing to become unethical monsters for the sake of their own greed. Not only are they hurting people, including religious people who don't consume pig to escape sin, but they are also brutally killing pigs for the sake of a few drops of blood to satify the cravings of addicted smokers ... this has to stop!
I doubt they're killing pigs just for blood for cigarettes. It's probably one more way to get everything out of the pigs they slaughter for meat. Using the whole animal and all. You'd be surprised at some of the items you may encounter everyday that contain animal byproducts.
Very interesting topics.I am looking this type of topics, I need more informations because everyone knows "Health is wealth" is very much known to all and everyone wants good health.That means no one wants to leave this wealth. So, Let us build a food habit discipline, keep pace with work, rest and or exercise to Achieve good health, The ultimate wealth.
crazy
Its all part of thier plan
I'm a muslim and eating pork is also a sin in my religion.
This is one of the many things cigarette companies don't tell us. What is a smoker was jewish? What if he found out? This will might cause an outrage in the jewish communtiy.
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Isn't smoking a sin on its own? Some people are so hypocritical.
OMG next time they will use pig shit.......