The United States Food and Drug Administration has authorised Zyn nicotine pouches to be sold to as a tool to quit smoking.
The agency says that even though this decision gives the products permission to be legally marketed in the U.S., it “does not mean these tobacco products are safe, nor are they ‘FDA approved’”.
In a statement the FDA said that Zyn supplied data from a study that demonstrated "a substantial proportion of adults who use cigarette and/or smokeless tobacco products completely switched to the newly authorized nicotine pouch products".
The pouches, made by tobacco company Phillip Morris, have been on the U.S. market for over decade as the FDA reviewed whether to formally allow them and the latest decision allows 10 Zyn flavours, including mint, coffee, cinnamon and menthol, to remain.
Nicotine pouches do not contain any actual tobacco and is placed between the gum and the lips where it slowly emits nicotine, much like nicotine patches or chewing gum.
While E-cigarettes were also authorised as a device for quitting smoking before seeing a huge spike in use by children, but there has been no evidence that teens are migrating nicotine pouches in the same manner, with less than 2% of American students reporting use of the pouches last year, according to the FDA.