Dear Brent,
Thank you for expressing your concerns about our Natural American Spirit Fire Standards Compliant (FSC) cigarettes. Please find information on our methods of creating these cigarettes listed below. If you would like to discuss your concerns further, please feel free to call us at 1-800-332-5595 and any of our Customer Care specialists will be happy to assist you personally.
"Fire Standards Compliant," (FSC) is a phrase Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company uses to describe the Natural American Spirit cigarettes that have been tested and have satisfied the requirements of many states across the country (further information about which states are involved is listed below). These tests, according to state authorities, measure the tendency of a cigarette to self-extinguish if left unattended. All tobacco companies are required to abide by this law. Please note: while our FSC cigarettes are more likely to go out when left to smolder than our regular cigarettes, this does not mean that they are "fire-safe" or any more "fire-safe" than regular Natural American Spirit cigarettes. Therefore, we stress that no cigarette can be considered to be "fire-safe."
Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company does not add any chemicals to our tobacco to comply with State fire safety laws. We simply use a new type of flax-based cigarette paper which has built-in "speed bumps." Two speed bumps are placed in horizontal bands along the length of the cigarette. The burn retardant bands are virtually non-porous. As a result, not enough oxygen can diffuse through the bands to the burning tobacco in order to support the smoldering process. As the lit end burns across these bands, the supply of oxygen is restricted and the cigarette is more likely to self-extinguish.
The material used to create the speed bumps is a natural starch, made from a water based alginate that is an extract of seaweed. This alginate is food use approved, biodegradable and applied to the paper in a water solution. Our FSC cigarettes contain the same amount of tobacco that Natural American Spirit cigarettes always have, and we use only the same premium quality 100% additive-free natural tobacco our customers have come to know and expect.
We have been recommending to our customers that they try our roll your own tobacco as an alternative to the FSC cigarettes, as the papers supplied with loose tobacco do not currently need to meet state laws for FSC standards. We also recommend using Premier brand filter tubes to create a filtered cigarette. Premier products use the same ingredients that we do in our own cigarettes, but are not required to include the FSC bands.
Due to national legislative trends, we are producing all of our cigarettes as Fire Standards Compliant (FSC) as of September 28, 2009. Most states and Washington D.C. have already passed FSC legislation. The remaining few states have filed or introduced FSC legislation, and we anticipate that these introduced bills will pass in the state legislatures.
Please remember that there is NO safe cigarette. FSC cigarettes need the same careful attention and handling as any other cigarette. Any burning cigarette can ignite materials if handled carelessly. If you are concerned about the health risks of smoking, the best advice is to quit smoking.
Thanks again for taking the time to contact us, Brent. We hope this information has been helpful. We appreciate your interest in our Natural American Spirit tobacco products!
Best regards,
The People of Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company
<- (hand rolled)
I have been smoking American Spirits.
