ReviewTobacco control2011
Menthol sensory qualities and smoking topography: a review of tobacco industry documents.
Review in Tobacco control, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Perceptions and Experiences with Flavored Non-Menthol Tobacco Products: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2017Pooled it
- A Pilot RCT Exploring Heated Tobacco Product Substitution for Menthol Cigarettes.American journal of preventive medicine · 2025Trial
- Substitutability of menthol cigarette alternatives: a clinical trial.Tobacco control · 2025Trial
- Evaluating the effect of switching to non-menthol cigarettes among current menthol smokers: an empirical study of a potential ban of characterising menthol flavour in cigarettes.Tobacco control · 2020Trial
- Does menthol cigarette use moderate the effect of nicotine metabolism on short-term smoking cessation?Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- Role of sweet and other flavours in liking and disliking of electronic cigarettes.Tobacco control · 2016Trial
- Influence of Cooling Agents on the Arrhythmogenic and Autonomic Effects of Electronic Cigarettes in an in vivo Model.Circulation. Arrhythmia and electrophysiology · 2026Article
- Perceptions of a Menthol Cigarette Ban: Focus Group Study With US Adults who Smoke Menthol Cigarettes.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2026Article
- Commentary Paper on Cooling Flavors in Cigarette and Non-Cigarette Tobacco Products.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026Article
- Menthol Characterizing Flavors in Cigarettes on Sale in England After a Characterizing Flavor Ban: Findings From Sensory and Chemical Assessments.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- The Relative Reinforcing Value of Menthol Among Young Adult Cigarette Smokers: Results From a Behavioral Choice Task.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- Still 'Cool': tobacco industry responds to state-wide menthol ban with synthetic coolants.Tobacco control · 2025Article
- Decoding honey-sweet flavored flue-cured tobacco from Guizhou with data science and flavoromics by volatile and cell wall components.Frontiers in chemistry · 2025Article
- Examining the Predictive Utility of Behavioral Economic Demand Indices and Subjective Effects on the Actualized Reinforcing Value of Menthol Cigarettes and Potential Alternatives.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Article
- Cigarette smoking and prostate cancer aggressiveness among African and European American men.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2024Article
- Unveiling the Tobacco Industry's Exploitative Legacy: A Call for Racial Equity through a Menthol Ban.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2024Article
- The Scientific Basis for the Regulation of Flavors in Tobacco Products.Annual review of clinical psychology · 2024Review
- Vuse Solo e-cigarettes do not provide net benefits to public health: a scientific analysis of FDA's marketing authorisation.Tobacco control · 2024Review
- Menthol and related compounds in waterpipe products.Tobacco prevention & cessation · 2024Article
- Ice flavours and non-menthol synthetic cooling agents in e-cigarette products: a review.Tobacco control · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine what the tobacco industry knew about the potential effects of menthol on smoking topography-how a person smokes a cigarette.
methodsA snowball strategy was used to systematically search the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu) between 1 June 2010 and 9 August 2010. We qualitatively analysed a final collection of 252 documents related to menthol and smoking topography.
resultsThe tobacco industry knew that menthol has cooling, anaesthetic and analgesic properties that moderate the harshness and irritation of tobacco. Owing to its physiological effects, menthol contributes to the sensory qualities of the smoke and affects smoking topography and cigarette preference.
conclusionOur review of industry studies suggests that the amount of menthol in a cigarette is associated with how the cigarette is smoked and how satisfying it is to the smoker. If menthol in cigarettes was banned, as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently considering, new/experimental smokers might choose not to smoke rather than experience the harshness of tobacco smoke and the irritating qualities of nicotine. Similarly, established menthol smokers might choose to quit if faced with an unpleasant smoking alternative.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.