Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that evidence of the absolute and relative health risks of heat-not-burn tobacco products is independently reviewed.

The Department commissioned the Committee on Toxicity (CoT) to provide the Department with an independent assessment of the harms produced by heat not burn products. The CoT is a committee of independent experts that provides advice to the Government on matters concerning the toxicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment. In taking forward this work, the CoT enlisted the expert advice of two other committees, namely the Committee on Mutagenicity and the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. On 12 December 2017, these Committees published their joint statement. The evidence suggests that heat not burn products still pose harm to users, but they are likely to be less harmful than conventional cigarette smoking. Data on impacts to human health is very limited. It is recommended that smokers quit completely rather than move to heat not burn products.

Public Health England will continue to monitor the evidence base as it develops.