Nicotine pouches, small packets placed between the gum and the lips, are more tasty, and have become an increasingly attractive option when trying to avoid cigarettes and the usual “smoke” oral tobacco products. Since the bags entered the US market in 2014, they have been constantly found, especially in art between a25 and 44 ges. This month they became 20 products of the popular Zyn brand The first “authorized” bags According to the US Food and Drug Administration. In general, while the FDA favors the “approved” designation, it allows Zyn to continue selling its three- and six-milligram nicotine pouches in 10 different flavors, including spearmint, citrus, coffee, cinnamon and menthol.
The FDA’s decision on Zyn, according to its manufacturer, the Swedish match, “has been a long time coming,” said Jasjit Singh Ahluwalia, a Medical and Public Health scientist who has studied Nicotine addiction for more than 30 years. The agency’s agency drew from a study facilitated by the Swedish matches, that people can have people to switch from other tobacco products, such as cigarettes. Dozens of compounds linked to cancer or other diseases. Pouches like Zyn contain fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes.
“The FDA has apparently made the public health benefits outweigh the risks,” says Mary Hrywna, associate professor, School of Public Health, and founding member of the Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies. “It doesn’t mean the products are safe.”
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Zyn pouches were the top selling oral nicotine brand in the US by the end of 2023; In the same year, Philip Morris International (PMI), the tobacco conglomerate that owns the Swedish match, sends us almost 385 million cans to the U.S. The total number of nicotine pouches in the U.S. increased by 126 million units in the last five months of 2019 from 126 million units in the first three months of 2022, according to – a JUMP report to. Hrywna says the FDA’s approval of Zyn is a good first step in cracking down on bad actors.
“The market has exploded, and some of these manufacturers are opportunists who are exploiting the lack of enforcement,” says Hrywna. “There’s at least one product now that’s been approved (the bag), so I would at least think that the FDA could ask for more type of action on products that haven’t filed any kind of application.”
Nicotine pouches have grown in popularity, and there have been concerns about their flavor and marketing potential. In the US people must be 21 or older to legally purchase a nicotine product, but last April the FDA issued More than 100 alerts Zyn was sold to those under the age of 21 at brick-and-mortar and online retailers that sold Zyn. The 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that among middle and high school students the bag was 1.8 percent, meaning approximately 480,000 students. The FDA says that rate among youth is relatively low compared to e-cigarette use (1.63 million students), but group they are right worried for use by children at any level. The so-called Zynfluencers Tiktok and other social media platforms have been criticized for pushing the bags to adults.
Responding to a request for comment, a PMI spokesperson said American scientific “U.S. affiliates are committed to limiting access to adults 21 and older with a commitment from marketing managers. PMI’s U.S. affiliates do not use media influencers in the U.S. or people under the age of 35.” The company further disclosed that it uses third-party age verification technology for marketing campaigns.
American scientific He spoke with Ahluwalia about how Nicotine Pouches work, what scientists know about their effectiveness as a tobacco alternative and their potential health concerns.
What are nicotine pouches and how do they work?
Smokeless tobacco products are often referred to as “snuff” or “snus”. Zyn and other bags are manufactured with nicotine salts (derived from natural tobacco or synthetically made), flavors and fillers.
Most users throw away the nicotine pouch every 15 minutes to an hour. While sandwiched between the gum and the lip, the nicotine salts dissolve and diffuse through the porous tea bag-like pouch, absorbing into the mucosal lining of the mouth. “When it does that, it gets into the blood system,” says Ahluwalia. Nicotine molecules bind to the body’s nicotinic acetylcholine receptorswhich are involved in regulating the dopamine reward system, and the resulting good feeling is what makes nicotine addictive.
Individual nicotine pockets.
Andrii Atanov / Getty Images
How effective are nicotine pouches in reducing cigarette use compared to other alternatives?
Various products such as gums, patches, lozenges and pouches can be used as alternatives to nicotine and other tobacco products, supposedly reducing health risks; such as those related to the combustion of smoking, or making it easier to quit nicotine in a measured way.
An effective nicotine addiction treatment is to mimic the “peaks and troughs” of the smoking experience, Ahluwalia says. After a puff on a cigarette“In five minutes, you have peak levels of nicotine, and then it has decreased in about 30 minutes. So it is an addictive drug,” he explained. “Your nicotine receptors are bare and hungry for more, so you take another cigarette, and it’s just a beautiful wonderful cycle.”
A cigarette can contain 10 to 15 mg of nicotine. A piece of nicotine gum often contains much less between 2 and 4 mg. “The pouch, especially if it’s a higher dose like six milligrams to eight milligrams, can more closely emulate a cigarette for higher nicotine levels,” Ahluwalia says. “It won’t give you a high, but it can get you to good levels that are respectable enough to saturate the nicotinic receptors in your brain.” (Ahluwalia is developing a pharmaceutical drug that delivers nicotine to the lungs, and has discussed scientific advice from manufacturers of nicotine products.)
One of the company-directed evaluations submitted to the FDA was found 24% of people He used cigarettes, in addition to traditional smoking tobacco products or Biak Zyn, after 10 weeks the products of the new bags changed completely. Another assessment found that in a separate survey group, Zyn’s, Zines’s, Zinema’s were down to 42 percent and 42 percent in the 15-plus season.
“There is evidence that (pouch) products that deliver significant levels of nicotine are able to worsen tobacco-related withdrawal symptoms,” he says, but adds that additional independent studies in humans are needed. “I think we need more evidence whether nicotine pouches promote long-term, sustainable product changes or not, they actually reduce tobacco harm,” he explained.
What do we know about the health risks of Nicotine Pouches?
-An A review of the Nicotine Pouch studiesHuman trials – funded by pocket manufacturers – show minimal damage to tooth enamel and prevent oral injury from some tobacco products. Urine and blood samples from users of the Velo brand had lower levels of several harmful biomarkers compared to samples from cigarette smokers who used the Nicotine Pouch. A biomarker of oxidative cell damage, along with two biomarkers associated with cardiovascular disease, were not significantly different from those found in smokers.
Like any nicotine product, puffs can have short-term side effects such as elevated heart rate, irritability, and nausea. Small packets should not be chewed or swallowed. Some of the nicotine in the pockets is swallowed in the stomach when people swallow their saline. The liver will eventually metabolize it, but Ahluwalia says this can cause side effects such as hiccups and inflammation.
“We know that nicotine pockets contain far less harmful ingredients than traditional tobacco products,” Hrywna says. -A 2023 Toxicological screening 186 chemical components other than nicotine were identified from 48 nicotine pouches of 22 brands; Eight of these are considered dangerous by European classification, labeling and packaging regulations and three are considered carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. But the overall amount of chemicals is much less than that of smoking cigarettes More than 7,000 products.
to evaluate Relative harms and risks of nicotine it’s nuance, says Ahluwalia. Outstanding research has found links Nicotine and cardiovascular disease, cancer and cognitive development Growing brains, but human findings are not entirely conclusive. Studies show that they affect nicotine Clear health risks during pregnancyIkaina; It can cross the placental barrier and affect the fetus, Ahluwalia Notes. Addiction is also a big concern with any nicotine-containing product, and these pouches “have a high potential for nicotine addiction,” says Hrywna.
Because nicotine pouches are so new, the evidence for safety and effectiveness is still relatively thin, Hrywna says. In the FDA’s approval announcement, the agency said it will closely monitor the marketing and use of these products. “We don’t want to see young people taking nicotine in any form,” says Hrywna. “If youth use becomes problematic, I believe the FDA has a stronger legal basis to market authorized products and remove unauthorized products from the market.”
