Health authorities on Thursday endorsed the benefits of nicotine pouches to help adult smokers reduce or quit cigarettes, after authorizing Philip Morris International’s Zyn products.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 10 flavors of Zyn, including coffee, mint and menthol. This is the first time regulators have authorized the sale of nicotine pouches, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. tobacco market.
However, the agency’s decision does not mean Zyn is safejust less harmful than older alternatives.
These products contain pharmaceutical-grade nicotine, according to the Tabacco Harm Reduction informational website. They consist of a permeable bag that is placed between the gums and cheeks to slowly release nicotine, eliminating the cigarette combustion process. They have been available for more than a decade as the FDA reviewed company data intended to show that these products can serve as an alternative to cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products.
FDA officials explained Thursday that Zyn contains fewer harmful ingredients than cigarettes and several types of chewing tobacco, including snuff, which are linked to cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Data from the company that makes the bags also showed that “a significant portion of adults” who smoked switched entirely to Zyn, according to regulators. The bags are sold in two different concentrations.
“The data show that these products meet the requirement by benefiting adults who use cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products,” said Matthew Farrelly of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
The agency has granted similar authorizations to several brands of electronic cigarettes and snus, a smokeless stimulant that contains nicotine and is popular in Scandinavian countries. Unlike the latter, and other nicotine pouches, Zyn does not contain tobacco. Just nicotine and flavoring.
Tobacco companies have spent decades trying to create products to replace dwindling cigarette sales as smoking levels in the United States, and around the world, continue to fall. E-cigarettes became popular more than ten years ago, but faced a backlash after they sparked the rise of underage vaping.
In recent months, anti-smoking groups have warned that nicotine pouches could continue down a similar path, pointing to videos of young people using Zyn and other similar products that have racked up millions of views on social media platforms.
But the FDA cited data from government studies showing that less than 2% of American middle and high school students used nicotine pouches last year.
Supporters of the exchanges have pointed out that Zyn works the same way as chewing gumlozenges and other older smoking cessation products – releases low levels of nicotine that are absorbed into the gums, reducing cravings.
The debate over Zyn spilled over into politics last year, pitting Democrats and Republicans against each other in another chapter of the country’s culture wars.
In late January, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York asked regulators to investigate Zyn, citing its appeal to teenagers. Several House Republicans warned voters that Big Brother (Big Brother) intended to “ban nicotine.” Tucker Carlson and other conservative commentators are among the public figures who have endorsed Zyn.
The company Philip Morris has stated that it does not use online influencers or endorsers to promote Zyn, a product that is marketed in the United States through its Swedish unit Match. It competes with similar products from other companies, including Altria’s On bags.