Nicotine pouches (small, flavorful packets placed between the gums and lips) have recently become an increasingly attractive option for people looking to avoid cigarettes and traditional “smokeless” oral tobacco products. Ta. Since Pouch was introduced to the US market in 2014, it has found a steady following, especially among people between the ages of 25 and 44. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While this falls short of the FDA’s “approved” designation as generally safe, Zyn does offer 3-milligram nicotine pouches in 10 flavors, including spearmint, citrus, coffee, cinnamon, and menthol. can continue to sell.
The FDA’s decision on Zyn, whose manufacturer Swedish Match applied for approval in 2020, is “long overdue,” says Jasjit Singh Ahluwalia, a physician and public health scientist at Brown University who has been addicted to nicotine for more than 30 years. I’ve been researching. . The agency’s ruling was drawn from research facilitated by the Swedish Match. This suggests that pouches will cause people to switch from other tobacco products such as cigarettes. Pouches such as Zyn contain significantly fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes.
The FDA clearly “concluded that the public health benefits outweigh the risks,” said Mary Friuna, an associate professor at Rutgers School of Public Health and founding member of the university’s Nicotine and Tobacco Institute. states. “It doesn’t mean the product is safe.”
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Zyn Pouches was the top-selling oral nicotine brand in the US by the end of 2023. That same year, Philip Morris International (PMI), the tobacco conglomerate that owns the Swedish match, announced that total sales of nicotine pouches in the United States had increased from 126 million units in the previous five months of 2019. reported that it shipped nearly 385 million cans of pouch cans to the United States more widely. 888 million people in the first three months of 2022 Jama Report. 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 just opportunists taking advantage of the lack of enforcement,” Hrywna says. “There is now at least one certified (pouch) product. I think at least the FDA could take more enforcement action against products that have not submitted any type of application.”
The increasing popularity of nicotine pouches and their potentially appealing flavors and marketing are prompting concerns about underage use. In the United States, you must be 21 years of age or older to legally purchase nicotine products, but last April, the FDA ordered more than 100 brick-and-mortar and online retailers who sold Zyn to people under 21 to legally purchase nicotine products. A warning letter has been issued. The Tobacco Survey found that pouch use among middle school and high school students was 1.8%, or approximately 480,000 students. The FDA notes that this rate among young people is relatively low. For example, E-cigarette use was 5.9% (1.63 million students), but the group is concerned about all levels of use by children. So-called Zynfluencers on Tiktok and other social media platforms have been criticized for promoting pouches to young adults.
In response to a request for comment, a PMI spokesperson said: Scientific American “Our U.S. affiliates are committed to responsible marketing practices with a focus on restricting access to adults over the age of 21. PMI’s U.S. affiliates are committed to responsible marketing practices that focus on restricting access to adults over the age of 21. We do not use influencers or social media influencers under the age of 35 in our marketing materials.” The company further stated that it uses third-party aging technology in its marketing campaigns.
Scientific American We also talked more about how nicotine pouches work, what scientists know about their effectiveness as a cigarette replacement, and what the potential health concerns are.
What is a nicotine pouch? Also, how does it work?
Traditional smokeless tobacco products, often called “snuff,” “dip,” or “snus,” consist of ground tobacco leaves sealed in a small permeable bag or placed directly on the cheek. . Instead, Zyn and other pouches contain manufactured powders of nicotine salts (derived from natural tobacco or synthetically made), flavors, and fillers.
Most users spit out the nicotine pouch after 15 minutes to an hour. While hidden between the gum and the lips, the nicotine salts dissolve and diffuse through a diffuse tea bag-like pouch and are absorbed into the mucous membrane lining of the mouth. “Once that’s done, it goes into the blood system,” says Ahluwalia. Nicotine molecules bind to the body’s nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which are involved in regulating the dopamine reward system, and the resulting sensory sensation is what makes nicotine addictive.

Individual nicotine pouch.
Andrii Atanov/Getty Images
How effective are nicotine pouches in reducing tobacco use compared to other alternatives?
A variety of nicotine products, such as gum, patches, lozenges, and pouches, can be used as an alternative to cigarettes and other tobacco products, possibly reducing some health risks, such as those associated with smoking combustion. Remove nicotine in a measured way.
Effective nicotine addiction treatment typically involves mimicking the “peaks and troughs” of the smoking experience, Ahluwalia says. After a puff of a cigarette, “there’s a peak level of nicotine at five minutes, and it comes down after about 30 minutes. It’s a completely addictive drug,” he explains. “The nicotine receptors are naked and starving, so they take another cigarette. It’s just a beautiful vicious cycle.”
One cigarette can contain 10-15 mg of nicotine. Some nicotine gums often have much less, between 2 mg and 4 mg. “Especially at higher doses like 6 milligrams or 8 milligrams, where higher levels of nicotine can emulate a cigarette, pouches,” says Ahluwalia. “It doesn’t give you the same peak, but you can get to some nice levels that are respectable enough to kind of saturate your brain’s nicotine receptors.” He develops prescription drugs that deliver nicotine to the lungs and serves on scientific advisory boards for various manufacturers of nicotine products.
One company-led evaluation submitted to the FDA found that 24% of people who used cigarettes, traditional smokeless tobacco products, or both switched completely to the new pouch product after 10 weeks. I discovered it. Another evaluation found that in a separate study group, the proportion of people who used tobacco in addition to Zyn decreased from 42% to 15% over a median of 5 to 6 months.
“There is evidence that (pouch) products provide significant levels of nicotine that can suppress tobacco-related withdrawal symptoms,” Hrywna says, but she adds that additional independent research in humans is needed. I am. “I think we need more evidence about whether nicotine pouches promote long-term, sustained product switching and whether they actually reduce tobacco harm,” she says.
What do you know about the health risks of nicotine pouches?
A review of nicotine pouch research found that all human trials funded by the pouch manufacturer caused minimal damage to tooth enamel and reduced existing oral lesions from other tobacco products. . Urine and blood samples from people using Velo brand nicotine pouches had lower levels of several harmful biomarkers compared to samples from cigarette smokers. However, biomarkers of oxidative cell damage and two biomarkers associated with cardiovascular disease risk were not significantly different from those seen in smokers.
Like other nicotine products, pouches have short-term side effects such as increased heart rate, irritation, and nausea. Do not chew or swallow small packets. When people swallow saliva, nicotine from the pouch is inevitably ingested into the stomach. The liver eventually metabolizes it, but Ahluwalia says this can cause side effects such as hiccups and bloating.
“We know that nicotine pouches contain far fewer harmful ingredients compared to traditional tobacco products,” says Hrywna. A 2023 toxicological screening of 48 nicotine pouches from 22 brands identified 186 chemical components in addition to nicotine. Eight of these are considered dangerous by European classification, labeling and packaging regulations, and three are classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. However, the total number of chemicals is much lower than the total number of those commonly found in cigarette smoke, which can contain over 7,000 chemicals.
Assessing the relative harms and risks of nicotine is tricky, says Ahluwalia. Although considerable research has found links between nicotine and cognitive development in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and brain growth, human findings are not completely conclusive. Studies have shown that nicotine poses distinct health risks during pregnancy. It can cross the placental barrier and affect the fetus, ahluwalia says. Addiction is a big concern with any product containing nicotine, and these pouches have “a very high potential for nicotine dependence,” Hrywna says.
Because nicotine pouches are so new, the amount of evidence of safety and effectiveness is still relatively small, 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 an issue, I think the FDA now has a stronger legal basis for marketing certified products and removing unauthorized products from the market.”