WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials on Thursday endorsed the public health benefits of nicotine pouches and authorized Philip Morris International’s Zyn to lend a hand adult smokers cut back or quit smoking.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved ten flavors of Zyn, including coffee, mint and menthol. It’s the first time regulators have approved sales of nicotine pouches, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. tobacco market.
The pouches have been available for more than a decade as the FDA reviewed company data that said the products could serve as an alternative to cigarettes and other conventional tobacco products. The decision doesn’t mean Zyn is sheltered, just less harmful than older alternatives.
To stay in the market, companies generally must demonstrate that their products reduce disease among adult tobacco users without attracting youth and adolescents.
FDA officials said Thursday that Zyn contains fewer harmful ingredients than cigarettes and several types of chewing tobacco, including snuff, which have been linked to cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Company data also showed that “a significant proportion of adults” who had previously smoked switched entirely to Zyn, regulators said. The bags are sold in two different strengths.
“The data shows that these nicotine pouch products meet these requirements by benefiting adults who use cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products,” said Matthew Farrelly of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
The FDA has previously granted similar approval to several brands of e-cigarettes, a device for heating tobacco, and snus, a type of pasteurized tobacco popular in Scandinavian countries. Unlike snus, Zyn and other nicotine pouches do not contain tobacco, only nicotine and flavorings.
For decades, tobacco companies have sought to develop alternative products to replace failing cigarette sales as smoking rates continue to decline in the United States and around the world. E-cigarettes became popular more than a decade ago but faced a backlash after sparking a multi-year surge in underage vaping.
In recent months, anti-smoking groups have warned that nicotine pouches could follow a similar path, pointing to videos of newborn people popping Zyn and other pouches that have been viewed millions of times on social media platforms.
However, the FDA pointed to government survey data showing that less than 2 percent of American high school and middle school students used nicotine pouches last year.
Proponents of the pouches have pointed out that Zyn works in the same way as nicotine gum, lozenges and other older smoking cessation products: It releases miniature amounts of nicotine that are absorbed by the gums, reducing cravings.
The debate over Zyn expanded into politics last year, pitting Democrats and Republicans against each other in another skirmish in the country’s culture war.
In overdue January, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York called on regulators to investigate Zyn, citing its appeal to newborn people. Several Republicans in the House of Representatives then warned their voters that “Big Brother” intended to “ban nicotine.” Tucker Carlson and other conservative commentators are among the public figures who have supported Zyn.
Philip Morris has said it does not employ online influencers or endorsements to promote Zyn, which is marketed in the U.S. by its Swedish Match unit. It competes with similar products from other tobacco competitors, including Altria’s On pouches.
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