HOUSTON – Celanese Corp. (CE), a Dallas chemical company, is counting on a rebound in cigarette smoking and soda-pop drinking to drive its earnings higher in 2011 and 2012.

As part of its consumer specialty segment, Celanese manufactures a sweetener for soft drinks and a product that is used for cigarettes filters. Its customers include Altria Group Inc. (MO), its Philip Morris International (PM) spin-off, and PepsiCo Corp. (PEP).

“These tend to go into decline later in the cycle. We think that demand has bottomed out,” Dave Weidman, chief executive and chairman of Celanese said in an interview Tuesday. But he was cautious about seeing any improvement for 2010, instead forecasting increases in the next two to three years.

Celanese swung to a small fourth-quarter profit Tuesday and topped analyst expectations. But the consumer specialty segment, what Weidman describes as a ” late-cycle business,” saw a volume decline because of soft demand for cigarettes and soft-drinks in global recession.

In January, Altria, the biggest U.S. tobacco producer, reported about a 11% to 12% decline in cigarette volumes in the fourth quarter and has a cautious outlook for the following year. “The business environment for 2010 is likely to remain challenging as many consumers continue to be under economic pressure based on high unemployment,” Michael Szymanczyk, chairman and chief executive of Altria, said during an earnings conference call Jan. 28. Pepsi and Philip Morris International are scheduled to report quarterly results Thursday.

Celanese has three business segments that manufacture other chemicals used in paints, textiles and medical devices. The company has more than 30 industrial plants in North America, Europe and Asia.

The $4.2 billion company is “aggressively” pursuing several acquisitions that range in size of a few million dollars to just under $500 million in all three of geographic locations, Weidman said. “We like to stay in businesses that are similar to businesses that we have today,” Weidman said. Weidman declined to give a timeline for when any of these deals could close.

Its largest segment by revenue, the acetyl intermediates division, had ” significant volume recovery and margin expansion” in the fourth quarter. Its revenue climbed 13% as the segment returned to profitability.

“Much of the beat came from very strong results in the company’s core acetyl intermediates business from which the company generates over 50% of its revenues,” Hassan Ahmed, an analyst with Alembic Global Advisors in New York, wrote in a note to clients.

Celanese posted earnings of $5 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a prior-year loss of $155 million, or $1.09 a share.

Excluding impacts such as income-tax gains and provisions, the latest quarter had a 50-cent profit from continuing operations while the year earlier had a 40- cent loss. Revenue rose 7.9% to $1.39 billion on improved demand.

Weidman expects that in the next year Celanese’s earnings per share should increase because the company has closed plants in Europe and Mexico meaning it will have lower taxes and less depreciation to report.

Shares of Celanese rose 40 cents, or 1.4%, to $29.97.

By Susan Daker, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

U.S. health officials say they are concerned about candy-like smokeless tobacco products that are brightly packaged and flavored and, they fear, enticing to youngsters.

The tablets, strips and sticks are flavored like coffee or mint. The companies that make the products say they are marketed to adults who smoke but may be trying to quit or are looking for a nicotine fix while they are at a place that does not allow them to smoke.

The companies also point out that it’s illegal for anyone under 18 to purchase tobacco products, but the FDA is still concerned and has asked the makers of these products for information about their research and marketing for these items.

We share that concern. Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco have always been illegal to sell to people under the age of 18, yet studies have shown most people addicted to cigarettes and tobacco started using when they were teens, many under the age of 18.

We’re concerned young people who might be turned off to actually smoking may see these candy-like products as more acceptable, cool or trendy. The packaging is appealing and small, so they can easily be concealed. We’re also concerned that if so many people have been able to get cigarettes under the age of 18 it’s likely these products will be as easy to get as well.

We support the efforts of the FDA to get more information and we urge parents and others to educate youngsters about these products and their addictive nature.

HANOI, Vietnam — When pregnant Cambodian women suffer morning sickness, they often reach for an unlikely source of relief: a wad of chewing tobacco.

Many become hooked, and the World Health Organization warned Thursday it is a tradition putting the health of both mothers and babies at risk.

The largest tobacco survey ever conducted in Cambodia found that about half of all women older than 48 regularly chew tobacco, and about one in five rural women first took up the habit during pregnancy, to soothe their prenatal nausea.

The survey conducted by WHO and other researchers found that midwives are the country’s biggest users of smokeless tobacco, with 68 percent chewing it. About half of traditional female healers use it as well.

“Chewing tobacco appears to be strongly influenced by beliefs passed on by older relatives,” lead author, Dr. Pramil N. Singh from Loma Linda University in California, said in a statement. “The behavior is seen as a rite of passage into womanhood. Further research is needed to find out whether village health workers actively promote its medicinal use.”

The tobacco leaves are typically mixed with lime and betel nut, a mild natural stimulant that produces a bright red juice and has been used for centuries across the Asia-Pacific. Cambodian women place the concoction inside their mouths for an extended period, increasing their risk of suffering oral cancer.

As with pregnant women who smoke, those who chew tobacco also put their babies at risk for problems such as low birth weight, decreased lung function and stillbirth.

“Some women believe that when they chew tobacco, they look better,” said Dr. Mom Kong, director of the nonprofit Cambodia Movement for Health. “And some start chewing tobacco when they get pregnant to cope with morning sickness in the first trimester of pregnancy. Some crave something sour. But some women get addicted while using it during the pregnancy.”

As many as three-quarters of all men in some Southeast Asian countries smoke cigarettes, but fewer than 20 percent of the region’s women ever pick up the habit. While about half of older Cambodian women chew tobacco, only about 4 percent of them smoke, compared to nearly half of all men in the country.

The rate of Cambodian women using tobacco increased with age. Similar trends have been observed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, India, Palau and China.

Dr. Susan Mercado, WHO’s tobacco control adviser for the Western-Pacific region, said it’s common for women, men and children across the region to chew tobacco with betel nut, especially in the Pacific islands where cigarettes are sometimes unrolled and chewed. However, she was unaware of pregnant women using tobacco to lessen morning sickness symptoms anywhere but Cambodia.

“It’s very, very concerning because the impact is not only on the woman but also on the unborn child, and the risk could be quite severe,” she said. “Countries need to have very specific programs that target whatever kind of tobacco use is prevalent. Just because everyone is saying the big problem is second-hand smoke … the problem may not be second-hand smoke for women, it’s actually chewing.”

The study, conducted from 2005 to 2006, involved about 14,000 adult Cambodians nationwide. It was published online in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

Given the current H1N1 flu pandemic, State Health Commissioner Judy Monroe, M.D. says there’s never been a better time to quit smoking.

“Smoking damages your lung tissue, making you more susceptible to lung infections like bronchitis and pneumonia, which may complicate an influenza infection,” said Dr. Monroe. “Damaged lung tissue does not heal as efficiently after an infection as healthy lung tissue. Smoking also suppresses your immune system, making a smoker more susceptible to getting the flu in the first place.”

“When we look at the hospitalizations and deaths from the 2009 H1N1 flu, we can clearly see the negative impact chronic diseases, including tobacco-related illnesses, have on a person’s risk to develop serious illness or to die from the flu,” said Dr. Monroe.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has targeted individuals aged 25-64 with underlying medical conditions, like asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), to be among the first to get the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine as they are at higher risk for influenza-related complications.

Pregnant women are also targeted to be among the first to receive the H1N1 flu vaccine. According to the CDC, pregnant women are at a higher risk to get the flu and to have severe complications, including preterm labor, severe pneumonia, fetal distress, and even maternal death. Smoking during pregnancy can increase these risks, according to Dr. Monroe.

“Unfortunately, there are counties in our state with significantly higher than average rates of women who are pregnant and smoke,” said Dr. Monroe. “We know pregnant women are at higher risk of complications from the flu, and smoking can only compound the threat.”

“Our goal is to help Hoosiers live longer, healthier lives,” said Karla Sneegas, executive director, Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation agency. “We know current economic issues in the nation are likely causing extra stress for individuals, which can make it even more difficult to quit. However, we want Hoosiers to know, if you are ready to quit smoking, we are here to help.

“The first step in quitting can be as simple as picking up the phone,” said Sneegas. “The free Indiana Tobacco Quitline – 1-800-QUIT-NOW – is available from 7 a.m. – 3 a.m. seven days a week with highly trained quit coaches ready to help with advice and tips designed to help callers quit for life.”

“Our goal is not only to help people quit using tobacco, but to assist their family and friends as well. A strong support network is critical to success in quitting,” added Sneegas.

For more information regarding information on how to quit using tobacco, call the free Indiana Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit www.in.gov/itpc.

SMOKELESS CIGARETTES are (allegedly) the solution for the smoker who hates the rain, can’t make it through a two-hour movie, can’t make the trek outdoors during the workday or finds the idea of a four-hour flight unbearable.

There are various types, the most widely available being the electronic cigarette, which contains a liquid containing nicotine that is vaporised and inhaled. Ryanair now sells the other most popular type, in the form of Similar smokeless cigarettes.

Ryanair’s head of communications, Stephen McNamara, says the product was introduced due to customer demand. “Some passengers can find it stressful to spend long journeys without a cigarette so we introduced the product based on customer feedback and to cater to passenger demand. It seemed a logical step to introduce a product that could provide smokers with relief from nicotine withdrawal.

“Smokers enjoy the ‘taste’ of the product while many have reported that is has helped them take the stress out of flying as they no longer worry or feel anxious about missing when they can get their next nicotine hit during a flight.” But how similar are Similar cigarettes? While it seems feasible that these cigarette-alikes will substitute for the real thing on a short-haul flight, how do faux fags fare in the real world? Dan Kinsella is an IT consultant who tried electronic cigarettes as a somewhat healthier alternative to smoking. “They only provide nicotine, as opposed to all the chemicals in a normal cigarette.” Was he satisfied? “You don’t get quite the same feeling,” he says. “After a while I went back on normal cigarettes.” He did, however, find them useful for avoiding the smoking ban. “I used to smoke at my desk, when I didn’t have time to go out for an ordinary cigarette.” Richard and Celine O’Connor both use electronic smoking devices – he a pipe, she cigarettes. Richard says that, aside from a minor issue – “they come in many flavours (anything from vanilla to Red Bull) but I’m finding it difficult to find a flavour I like” – they are very convenient for the couple. “My wife had to spend a night in hospital recently, and we both brought our electronics in. We were happily puffing away when we were caught by a nurse.” A quick demonstration allayed her fears.

I spent a day with Ryanair’s Similar branded smokeless cigarettes: a packet of 10, purchased for €6 on board a Ryanair flight, to see how it feels to smoke on the right side of the law.

The first thing I notice is that they smell, to all intents and purposes, like what one’s mother might call “sucky sweets” – irrefutably better than mainstream cigarettes, albeit slightly strange. They feel like real cigarettes and, crucially, they look like them.

I initially thought my Luas journey might cause difficulty. People, in my experience, are usually – and rightly – quick to complain when they see someone lighting up and, unlike clubs or pubs, bright lights mean I’m in plain sight. No waiting for plumes of smoke or that tell-tale smell.

People look – probably wondering whether I’m insane, given that I am sucking on what looks like an unlit cigarette – but complaints are few. The embarrassment, for the self-

conscious, is one big drawback of the smokeless cigarette. Whether they’re saying it or not, people are wondering what in the world you’re doing.

I see a flicker of interest from the woman across from me. “You’re not going to light that, are you?” No, you don’t light smokeless cigarettes. You suck on them as you would an ordinary cigarette, without the irritating lighter fumblings. I take a drag.

“They’re smokeless cigarettes,” I say, and exhale. No smoke; any idea I might have had about smoking being “cool” – has gone out the window. I am slightly embarrassed. I take another pull and glance at my interrogator.

“I’m spending a day with smokeless cigarettes.” She looks sceptical.

“But when do you know when it’s finished?” A-ha. The problem with not lighting a cigarette is immediately apparent; for as long as you suck on it, it emits that slightly sweet, fabricated taste. You will never get to the end of your smokeless cigarette. Of course I didn’t spend a day smoking the same one, but you get my drift; furthermore, there is something infinitely wasteful about putting a whole, seemingly unsmoked, cigarette in the bin. If you can’t find a bin, you risk putting it back in the packet and re-smoking it later on. A handy money saver, if a little disgusting.

At work there is more confusion. Explaining what a smokeless cigarette is gets tiring quickly.

Smoking in the lunchtime queue in the deli seems precarious; the place is packed and it’s all I can do to balance my sandwich and bottle of water while counting out change. I give up. Later that evening, five smokeless cigarettes down, I go to the cinema with another friend who, in the dim light and without the odour or glowing embers, is the only one to notice what I’ve got in my mouth. “What is that?” I almost wish I’d painted a sign. “It’s a smokeless cigarette,” I whisper. “Oh, are you giving up?” Well, no, not quite.

Similar cigarettes contain 0.8mg of nicotine – compared to 0.5mg in my usual cigarette of choice. They do, therefore, sate my nicotine cravings – but so do patches, and they don’t come with endless questions. What they don’t, in fact, do, is act like a cigarette. There is no smoke and the taste is entirely different – the problem is nicotine on its own isn’t enough, which is why we smoke at all. In order to work, nicotine replacements need to be coupled with large amounts of willpower.

Smoking a cigarette that looks like a cigarette, acts like a cigarette but neither tastes nor feels like a cigarette (while giving you more nicotine than a cigarette) seems an odd choice.

Smokeless cigarettes allow you to smoke and obey the law – in the comfort of your desk chair, on public transport, in the back of a taxi – but you don’t get what smokers (perhaps mistakenly) see as the “satisfaction” of smoking. It’s like being on a diet where you’re advised to sniff a piece of chocolate without eating it.

If you can’t face going without smoking for four hours or so (Ryanair’s longest flight from Dublin is currently to the Canary Islands), you may want to indulge in some smokeless cigarettes. Alternatively, you could consider that four hours is about as long as Titanic – and the prospect of watching that is infinitely more painful than a few hours of nicotine cravings.

November 18, 2009 Irishtimes

STOCKHOLM, – A Swedish tobacco company adds a substance to snuff products to heighten dependency, an investigative report concluded.

The usual level for snuff or ‘snus’ is eight milligrams per gram but double that amount was found in one product produced by Swedish Match, the news program Kalla Fakta reported.

The report alleges that Swedish Match added a substance known as E500 which raises “free” nicotine to increase craving. The tobacco company denies any wrongdoing.

“There is no secret substance in snus,” spokesman Henrik Brehmer said regarding the use of E500. “We use it to stabilize the pH value in snus and have done so for 200 years.”

Brehmer rejected an assertion by Harvard School of Public Health Professor Greg Connolly Swedish Match is deliberately using the substance to addict consumers.

“In a study in 2008 he concluded that we are manipulating the pH value, something that we consider hugely speculative,” Brehmer said.

Oct. 25, 2009

We’ve all seen that scene in “The Sandlot” when all the kids try chewing tobacco because all their favorite baseball players do it.
This has become a common motif in anti-tobacco campaigns: trying to stop visible figures from doing it because young, impressionable fans who idolize players might just try it and get addicted.

It seems the issue of chewing tobacco has fallen out of the spotlight lately. Its use in Major League Baseball has declined due to policies bans in the minor leagues, but there are still many players who do it.

I was somewhat naive about the whole issue until about my sophomore year in high school, when I found out that my team’s pitching coach dipped. (Dip is fine-cut tobacco that is placed between the lip and the gums, while chew is shredded tobacco leaves or plugs placed in the cheek.) After that point, I began picking up on it when watching baseball on TV.

There are a lot of players who do it—many you might not think of.

I won’t name names, because I don’t think it’s particularly appropriate, nor do I want to start a witch hunt for who does and who doesn’t. But, for example, I can tell you that at least a quarter of the Boston Red Sox do it.

Right now, there’s one team that has taken measures against chew. The Minnesota Twins have outlawed it because their (former) home field (the Metrodome) doesn’t get cleaned or drained by weather. It seems to be a step in the right direction.

Ultimately, the question is, is it such a bad thing?

Chewing tobacco is essentially equivalent to smoking, with different consequences. The problems tend to surface in the oral region rather than in the lungs, which can get really ugly on the outside. It’s clearly a more visible habit than smoking if players are doing it on the field and people are noticing.

What has to be weighed is whether banning chewing tobacco in MLB would cause a significant decline in its popularity in youths.

Perhaps one team could try banning it, and the effect on chewing tobacco popularity in that team’s general area could be studied.

The one caveat, as always, is the potentially monstrous backlash from the players that could result in tobacco bans.

By Dave Meisel, Bleacherreport

A new federal grant will support research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute about smokers’ interest in smokeless tobacco products.

The hospital received the $2.1 million National Institutes of Health grant to study chews, powders, dissolvable tablets and other smokeless tobacco products.

Led by principal investigator Richard O’Connor in Roswell’s Health Behavior Department, the study will assess whether current smokers use such smokeless products only as a substitute for cigarette smoking or if they are willing to switch completely from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco.

Last month, Roswell received a tobacco-related federal grant of $11.5 million over five years from National Cancer Institute to study tobacco control policies across countries to better reduce consumption levels.

Business First of Buffalo – by Tracey Drury, October 9, 2009

MICHIGAN CITY – A “snus” – rhymes with moose and goose – sounds like a new cartoon character or kids’ cereal.

Actually, it’s a tiny pouch of spitless tobacco similar to chewing tobacco, packaged 15 per tin.

It’s one of the new line of dissolvable tobacco products being marketed as alternatives to cigarettes by R. J. Reynolds tobacco company under the Camel brand.

Although smoking is illegal if you’re under 18, these products are intentionally designed to appeal to youth, according to Michigan City education and health advocates. Kelly Foley, site coordinator for the Safe Harbor and Hours for Hours programs at Edgewood Elementary School, has a collection of Camel dissolvable products she uses in the Tobacco Awareness Program for students who want to quit smoking.

Camel Snus come in menthol or mellow flavors and are available in Michigan City, according to Foley.

“You can go to a local gas station and you’ll see the logo at eye level,” she said. “By packaging it to look like candy, it’s very confusing to a child to be confronted with a product like this.”

Foley is concerned about the nearly three times higher nicotine levels in dissolvable tobacco products compared to cigarettes. She’s particularly upset by Camel Orbs, small lozenges that come in “fresh” (minty) or “mellow” (original) flavor. Orbs were test-marketed in Indianapolis starting in January, as part of nationwide product research. They last about 15 minutes, Foley said, and each one packs three times more nicotine than a regular cigarette.

Her husband, who smokes about a pack of cigarettes a day, tried one of the Orbs.

“He said it was like smoking three cigarettes all at the same time,” Foley said. “His experience was like he felt when he first started smoking. He got a head rush.”

Camel Sticks, available in the “mellow” flavor, look like toothpicks. They can be broken in half and placed between the upper lip and gum, where they will dissolve in 10 minutes.

Camel Strips look like Listerine breath-freshening strips and last about three minutes. Packaged in tin boxes the size of a shirt pocket, dissolvables are promoted as alternatives to cigarettes when smokers are in a place where they’re unable to light up. Given the products’ convenience and similarity to candy and mints, users could ingest more than one at a time and possibly get a toxic dose of nicotine. The new products are not regulated by the FDA, so no product testing is required.

Sandy Gleim, executive director of Healthy Communities of La Porte County, said smokeless alternative nicotine products are just as addictive as cigarettes. Adults who use them shouldn’t leave them laying around where kids can pick them up and pop them into their mouths, she cautioned.

“This is a concern,” she said. “Young children aren’t going to know what they are.”

Gleim said most of the dissolvable tobacco products haven’t yet arrived in this area, but she believes they will be sold on a more widespread basis. Foley was given the package of Snus by a high school student who was using the product.

“He’s now a senior and has been chewing (tobacco) since he was a young kid,” Foley said. “It was a socially acceptable thing in his household.”

As smoke-free environments have become more prevalent, the dissolvables have the advantage of being a sort of stealth form of smoking.

“Nobody can complain about second-hand smoke,” Foley said. “You don’t have to sneak out of the office or spit.”

During the eight-week Tobacco Awareness Program, Foley uses as many tricks as she can find to scare students about the negative health effects of smoking. Her visual aids include a set of diseased lungs, the Jar of Tar and a list of some 4,000 chemicals in each cigarette.

“What our program does is help kids make the decision of whether they want to make the commitment (to quit),” Foley said.

Foley quit smoking 24 years ago, after a bout of pneumonia, and likes to tell her students about how she put aside the money she would have spent on cigarettes. After a year and a half, she was able to take her family on a 10-day trip to Disneyland, she said.

“I ask them to figure the amount of money they’d spend smoking one $5 pack of cigarettes a day for a year,” Foley said. “They can’t believe how much money ($1,825) they’d spend. It helps the kids see that it’s not only costing their health, but costing them money.”

Foley said she’s encouraged to find fewer young people using tobacco than when she was growing up. She will help mobilize a group of local teens who will lead the Tobacco Free Walk starting from Elston Middle School at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. Anyone in the community can participate in the event sponsored by Voice, Foley said. Voice is a student group that speaks out against the negative influence of tobacco companies on kids.

As an advocate for nonsmoking, Foley reminds adults who want to quit that help is available at 1-800-QUITNOW.


Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.