Japan Tobacco International is developing cigarettes that produces less tobacco smell when burned, but antismoking activists are wary of the product, the CanWest News Service reported Dec. 10.

The LSS (Less Smoke Smell) technology produces "less lingering tobacco smoke smell in an enclosed area when compared to a typical Canadian cigarette," according to JTI-Macdonald, the Canadian subsidiary of the Japanese tobacco company which is marketing the LSS product under the name Mirage.

LSS is based on cigarette paper that produces a vanilla aroma and masks the smell of burning tobacco. But critics say that's not necessarily a good thing.

"The smell of cigarette smoke is part of what lets people know to get out of the way," said Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. Callard said that Mirage and the LSS technology violate a Canadian law that bans products that "are likely to create an erroneous impression about the characteristics, health effects or health hazards of the tobacco product or its emissions."