Cigarette packs bearing gloomy graphic warnings showing diseased lungs and rotten teeth may not be efficient at discouraging smoking, says a new report, revealed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Graphic health warnings used in surveys carried out by the FDA have not contributed to a substantial effect on whether current smokers decided to get rid of the habit or non-smokers wanted to take up smoking, the report revealed last week discovered. The only exception was an image of a deceased person with a stapled chest that seemed to encourage smokers’ desire to quit.

Tobacco Companies, including market leaders Altria Group Inc, Reynolds American Inc, and Lorillard Co, are required to place graphic labels on all cigarettes packages from 2012 according to a legislation adopted last year that entitled the FDA with vast regulatory authority. In November the Food and Drug Administration proposed that all cigarette packages should have one of nine pictures the agency will choose from almost 40 test images, such as graphics or cancerous throats, corpse and rotten teeth.

“The graphic health warnings on cigarette packages did not evoke significant responses related to intent to quit or not start smoking,” stated the report. “However, it is likely that the observation period hasn’t been long enough to witness any change in those kinds of outcomes.”

According to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approximately 21 percent of adult population across the country or 46 million adults are smokers. Smoking is the number cause of preventable death in the country, taking almost 443,000 lives annually, under the CDC report.
The new images will occupy 50% of the front and back side of every pack of cigarettes and 20 percent of print labels. The FDA is examining the “considerable amount of information” in the latest report, according to Jeffrey Ventura, spokesman for the agency.

“The Food and Drug Administration will not only study the results of this report to select nine final health warning images, but as well the public response the agency receives in relation to the introduced measure revealed on Nov. 12, 2010, and reliable scientific data,” Ventura admitted in a written statement. The FDA intends to accept public response until January 11.

The study, conducted in October, consisted of an initial survey and a follow-up taking 10 minutes each, administered about a week apart. The adult, young adult and youth study samples each included more than 4,500 people.

The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are among 39 nations across the world that demand graphic health warnings, according to information provided by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids based in Washington. Almost 20 percent Canadian smokers admitted quitting or reducing consumption after seeing the gloomy images constantly, reported a survey of nearly 700 smokers carried out in 2004.

All cigarette packs selling in the U.S. currently carry one of four health warnings according to a federal law adopted in 1984. The current health warnings don’t carry graphic images.