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"Low Tar" Cigarette Claim Up In Smoke 

(CBS) A government agency did a sharp about face Tuesday, and admitted the test it used to show those cigarettes are low in tar is meaningless. The FTC had endorsed the test for four decades, and during that time, the number of Americans smoking low-tar cigarettes grew from about one and 500,000 to more than 49 million. Now, as CBS News transportation and consumer safety correspondent Nancy Cordes reports, it looks like the low-tar claim has gone up in smoke. . . .

The proposal could open the door for the FTC to sue companies that call their products "light" or "low tar," implying they're somehow safer, Cordes reports.

Matt Myers with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says studies show more than half of all smokers still mistakenly believe that switching to cigarettes with slogans like "light and luscious," will reduce their risk of getting sick. . . .

"The FTC hasn't banned the term 'light' and 'low tar.' But it has put tobacco companies on notice. If they use those terms or the tar and nicotine numbers they risk lawsuit by the federal government," Myers said.

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