United States: Oral nicotine products increasingly popular

A study[1] from the Truth Initiative organization shows that nicotine pouches and other oral nicotine products (lozenges, gum, lozenges, etc.) are increasingly popular in the United States due to particularly aggressive marketing. Sales of these products more than doubled between 2020 and 2022. Tobacco companies sold $1.06 billion worth of lozenges, pouches and other synthetic nicotine products in 2022, more than double the $452.8 million in 2020.

Since their arrival on the market, these products have been widely advertised through radio, television and social media. Advertising expenditures for popular nicotine pouch brands Zyn, On! (Philip Morris) and VELO (British American Tobacco) totaled nearly $25 million between January 2019 and September 2021 in the US market alone.

Data published in the journal Substance Use and Addiction revealed that the Zyn nicotine pouch brand was the top-selling pouch brand in the United States from 2019 to 2022. During that period, unit sales of oral nicotine pouches were exponential: in a 3-month period (January to March 2022), they increased more than sixfold in volume to 808.14 million units. They had been 126.06 million units for a longer period from August to December 2019. Truth notes that more data is needed to properly track the sale and consumption of recreational oral nicotine products.

Products less strictly regulated than other nicotine products

Unlike other smokeless tobacco products, oral nicotine products do not contain tobacco leaves, but nicotine that is derived from tobacco in a laboratory or manufactured synthetically. Synthetic nicotine is relatively new and increasingly popular. It has been regulated by the FDA since March 2022, but much less strictly than other tobacco and nicotine products.

Truth notes that these products, and nicotine pouches in particular, contain flavors that have proven appealing to youth, such as mint, fruit and cinnamon. As restrictions on flavored nicotine products gain traction in the United States, Truth warns that youth may be using these products with high nicotine levels (up to 20 mg/g) to continue to have access to the flavors they desire.

The organization also recalls that nicotine pouches should not be considered as smoking cessation treatments. Nicotine pouches are manufactured by tobacco manufacturers with a view to renewing and developing their markets, targeting mainly young people.

Products promoted as less harmful “alternatives”

Nicotine pouches, particularly Zyn, are often marketed as “tobacco-free alternatives” because they contain nicotine but no tobacco leaves. “Tobacco-free” claims impact consumer perceptions and behaviors toward oral nicotine products. For vaping products, a study[2] demonstrated that this "tobacco-free" label, even in the absence of authorization from the federal agency, increased purchasing intentions among adolescents.

A previous Truth Initiative study also published in the journal Tobacco Control found that the majority of ads for nicotine pouches claimed they did not contain tobacco leaves (55 %) and were an alternative to other tobacco products (69 %). Most ads (84%) also claimed the product could be used anywhere and anytime.

Similar observations were made in France by the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT), which denounces the aggressive marketing around nicotine pouches from the VELO brand (British American Tobacco) or, more marginally, nicotine pearls. These products, presented as "new alternatives to cigarettes", again emphasize the possibility of being consumed at any time and regardless of the place, unlike other tobacco and vaping products.[3].

Keywords: United States, nicotine, nicotine pouches, oral products, tobacco industry, marketing, youth, flavors

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[1] How popular are oral nicotine pouches and lozenges?, Truth Initiative, published December 20, 2023, accessed December 29, 2023

[2] Kowitt SD, Seidenberg AB, Gottfredson O'Shea NC, et al Synthetic nicotine descriptors: awareness and impact on perceptions of e-cigarettes among US youth, Tobacco Control Published Online First: 12 May 2023. doi: 10.1136/tc-2023-057928

[3] Barometers of advertising at points of sale of tobacco and nicotine products, CNCT