The first official study of the content of cigarettes sold in Switzerland has revealed some pretty controversial chemicals, namely products that scientists say increase addiction. Universities in Bern and Berlin were in charge of the research, and the results are damning: there were about 48 different kinds of additives in the 32 cigarette brands sold in Switzerland between 2001 and 2003. On Tuesday the Federal Public Health Office (OFSP) explained that smokes sold in this country could legally have 25% of their weight made up of additives. They say that it will continue its research until 2006 to verify the results. Tobacco companies claim that the added substances are only there to «aromatize» and humidify their products, but scientists not affiliated to the industry argue that the additives «increase addiction and consumption.» Since 2005, tobacco companies have been required by law to reveal all the additives in their products, so the current research is a way of checking whether they have been telling the truth. Several brands were laced with forbidden additives. Health specialists underlined that regardless of the additives, smoking tobacco remains hazardous to people’s health: authorities say that cigarettes cause more than 8,000 premature deaths every year.

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