Oral smokeless products

Oral smokeless products

Philip Morris International’s (PMI’s) smoke-free portfolio includes oral smokeless products, also known as ‘oral nicotine products.’ Because these products do not burn tobacco, they contain fewer and lower levels of harmful chemicals than cigarette smoke. While these products are not risk free and contain nicotine, which is addictive, they can generally be a lower-risk alternative for adults who smoke cigarettes. This page provides an overview of two oral smokeless products—snus and nicotine pouches—exploring their roles within tobacco harm reduction frameworks and their potential as noncombustible alternatives to cigarettes.

What are oral smokeless products?

Oral smokeless products are smoke-free products that contain tobacco, or nicotine without tobacco, and are intended for oral use. Common examples include traditional oral tobacco products such as chewing tobacco, moist snuff, and snus, as well as newer products such as nicotine pouches. These products are placed in the mouth, where saliva releases nicotine. The nicotine is then absorbed through the oral mucosa.

Chewing tobacco is typically available as loose leaf, plugs (compressed bricks), or twists (rolled strands). It is placed between the cheek and gum and chewed intermittently, allowing nicotine release and absorption. Users usually spit out excess saliva mixed with tobacco extract. 

Moist snuff, on the other hand, is made of finely ground or shredded tobacco. A small amount is placed between the lower lip and gum, where it remains without chewing. Users typically spit out the resulting mixture of saliva and tobacco juices.

Snus products have a long history, particularly in Sweden, where their use dates back over 200 years. Snus is a moist tobacco product that contains ground tobacco. It is available in prepackaged sachets or as a loose mixture. Users place it between the gum and upper lip or cheek. Unlike chewing tobacco and moist snuff, snus is formulated to minimize saliva production, so users typically do not need to spit, making it more discreet. 

Nicotine pouches are a relatively recent innovation in the landscape of oral smokeless products, emerging in the early 2000s and gaining significant popularity over the past decade. Unlike traditional oral tobacco-based products such as snus, nicotine pouches do not contain tobacco. They contain purified nicotine, along with fillers, flavorings, pH adjusters, and stabilizers. Like snus, nicotine pouches are placed between the gum and upper lip, and are designed to minimize saliva production, eliminating the need to spit.

How is nicotine absorbed from oral smokeless products?

There are different ways in which nicotine can be absorbed in the body. These include through the digestive system (ingestion), lungs (inhalation), skin (transdermal), or the lining of the mouth (transbuccal). 

In general, oral smokeless products deliver nicotine through the lining of the mouth—the oral mucosa. This differs from cigarettes, heated tobacco, and e-vapor products, which deliver nicotine through the lungs, or transdermal patches, which deliver it through the skin. The high blood flow in the oral mucosa helps enable an efficient nicotine absorption, which is slower but more sustained than inhalation.

What oral smokeless products does PMI offer?

Our portfolio includes both snus and nicotine pouches. Although the oral smokeless category encompasses a broad range of products, PMI offers products with the greatest potential to substantially reduce harm associated with smoking. Following the acquisition of Swedish Match—a Swedish company specializing in the development, manufacturing, and sale of oral smokeless products—in November 2022, PMI expanded even further its portfolio of nicotine pouches and oral tobacco products into its broader smoke-free strategy.

Snus

Snus products are made by drying tobacco leaves using sun or air drying. The dried leaves are processed into a powder and mixed with salt and water. This mixture then undergoes pasteurization (heat treatment). After cooling, pH adjusters and flavoring agents are added to the final mixture, which is then sealed in a small, permeable pouch. Our snus, such as the brand General, follows strict manufacturing standards, such as the GothiaTek® standard, aimed at reducing the levels of harmful chemicals commonly found in tobacco products.

Snus products are popular in Norway and Sweden, particularly among men. Over the course of several decades, snus use has gradually replaced cigarette smoking. Notably, Sweden has the lowest smoking prevalence in the EU to date and leads the EU for the lowest trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer incidence among the male population.

Nicotine pouches

Nicotine pouches* do not contain tobacco and are therefore distinct from traditional snus, despite similarities in use. They consist of a granulated blend of purified nicotine combined with ingredients such as flavorings, pH adjusters, and fillers, sealed in small, permeable pouches.

PMI’s nicotine pouches, such as ZYN, are available in a variety of formulations, flavors, and nicotine strengths. Research supports setting limits on the nicotine strength of these products.

*In some markets, including Sweden, nicotine pouches are often referred to as 'white snus.' However, this term does not generally reflect the product features of nicotine pouches as, unlike snus, they do not contain tobacco.

Are oral tobacco products and nicotine pouches better than cigarettes?

Cigarette smoking involves the combustion of tobacco, a process that generates high temperatures and releases more than 6,000 chemicals—about 100 of which have been classified as harmful and potential harmful constituents (HPHCs) by public health authorities. It is repeated exposure to those HPHCs that is the primary cause of the increased risk of disease in people who smoke. Using oral smokeless products, such as snus, eliminates or reduces exposure to the HPHCs generated through the combustion of tobacco and inhalation of the smoke and, if manufactured according to strict manufacturing standards, are a much better choice than continued smoking.

Oral tobacco products contain levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs)—compounds classified as carcinogens by various institutions such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Their levels vary across products and are influenced by factors such as tobacco blend, fermentation, curing methods, and agricultural practices. Strict controls and optimized manufacturing processes, such as the use of pasteurization, can significantly reduce TSNA levels in oral smokeless products.

A substantial body of evidence exists for long-term health effects associated with snus use. Extensive research and decades of public health data from Sweden—where snus has been widely used—demonstrate the role of snus in reducing smoking rates and smoking-related diseases. This evidence supports snus as an enabler of tobacco harm reduction.

Because nicotine pouches typically contain significantly fewer and lower levels of HPHCs than snus—particularly TSNAs—and are used in a similar way, the exclusive use of pouches may result in a comparable or even greater risk reduction compared with continued smoking, and even snus use. Oral smokeless products like snus and nicotine pouches are not risk free and contain nicotine, which is addictive. The best choice any smoker can make is to quit all forms of tobacco and nicotine use altogether. However, these products, when scientifically substantiated and manufactured to high standards, are significantly less harmful than cigarettes and can contribute meaningfully to public health improvements by moving smokers away from smoking, the most harmful form of nicotine consumption.

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Reduced Risk Products ("RRPs”) is the term we use to refer to products that present, are likely to present, or have the potential to present less risk of harm to smokers who switch to these products versus continuing smoking. PMI has a range of RRPs in various stages of development, scientific assessment and commercialization. All of our RRPs are smoke-free products that deliver nicotine with far lower quantities of harmful and potentially harmful constituents than found in cigarette smoke.