Nicotine pouches are small teabag-like products made from plant fibers that contain nicotine and other ingredients. Unlike traditional tobacco or smokeless products like chewing tobacco, cigarettes or snuff, nicotine pouches do not include any cut, ground, powdered, or leaf tobacco. Instead, users stick these products between the lips and gums to slowly release low levels of nicotine into the mouth and bloodstream.
As with other nicotine products, nicotine pouches can be addictive, and use may increase a user’s risk of developing health problems including oral cancer, heart disease and lung issues. These products are also a gateway to more harmful tobacco and other nicotine-containing products, such as e-cigarettes and vaping devices.
Unlike cigarettes or other combustible tobacco heysnus.com/it/collections/nicotine-pouches products, which are heavily regulated by the FDA, nicotine pouches are being rapidly developed and marketed as consumer goods with little research and regulatory oversight. The authors identify key research areas to inform the development of policy approaches that can maximize the harm reduction potential of this new product category while minimizing unintended consequences.
Because they do not need to be heated, like cigarettes, nicotine pouches are considered “non-combustible tobacco products” and as such, they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration FDA. However, they still do carry some risks that are important for public health. Nicotine pouches have been found to increase the amount of nicotine absorbed by the body and they can lead to an increased risk of tooth loss and gum disease.
The authors suggest that the tobacco industry needs to change its marketing and advertising practices to avoid promoting nicotine pouches as a “safer” alternative to combustible tobacco products. The authors also recommend that the FDA place more stringent requirements on these types of non-tobacco nicotine products, such as requiring that they provide the same level of health warnings as combustible tobacco products.
In addition to their potential for addiction, nicotine pouches pose other risks that are not related to the amount of nicotine consumed, but rather other characteristics of the product itself. Nicotine pouches can have a distinct and unpleasant taste, as well as contain other chemicals that are not necessarily harmful in small amounts but which may be detrimental to the oral health of some people, such as carcinogenic nitrosamines.
While it is generally agreed that all tobacco products carry serious health risks, it is becoming increasingly recognized that different tobacco and nicotine products carry different levels of harm. For example, smoking cigarettes is known to increase the likelihood of heart disease, lung problems and cancer, while chewing tobacco is associated with gum disease and oral cancer. Similarly, nicotine pouches are not associated with any of these health risks and they appear to have been developed to be less harmful than other smokeless tobacco products. However, it remains unclear whether these products will prove to be effective in helping smokers quit and reduce their consumption of combustible tobacco. The authors suggest that long-term studies are needed to determine whether the use of these products will help reduce a user’s reliance on more hazardous products.