Ingredients

The main component of our cigarettes is tobacco. In addition to tobacco, we add ingredients to many of our brands to keep the tobacco moist and to help facilitate the manufacturing process. Many of our brands also have added flavor ingredients to provide their distinctive tobacco tastes and aromas. We also use non-tobacco materials such as cigarette paper and filters, which themselves contain ingredients.

We provide detailed information about the ingredients we use to regulators in many countries. This information is also available in the Product Information section of this website.

Are cigarettes without ingredients better for you?

With or without ingredients, all tobacco products cause serious diseases and are addictive. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cigarettes without ingredients have “never been demonstrated to be less dangerous or addictive than … cigarettes [with additives].” [1]

Do ingredients increase the harmfulness or addictiveness of our products?

No. The data, including our internal testing and the data in the marketplace, show that the ingredients we use do not increase the harmful effects of smoking. 

There is no basis to believe that cigarettes sold without ingredients are less harmful or less addictive than cigarettes sold with ingredients. That is what WHO has said. The prevalence of smoking, cessation rates, and rates of smoking-related diseases are generally the same in countries where most consumers smoke cigarettes with flavor ingredients as in countries where most consumers smoke cigarettes without flavor ingredients.

The important point is that smoking causes serious diseases and is addictive, whether ingredients are used or not.

Does Philip Morris International use ingredients to increase the addictiveness of its cigarettes?

No. We do not use ingredients to enhance the addictiveness of our cigarette brands. Cigarettes are addictive with or without ingredients.

[1]  WHO, Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise. World No Tobacco Day 2006