Cigarette maker Altria Group Inc. The Richmond-based owner of Philip Morris USA, which makes the top-selling Marlboro brand, began testing the product in select markets in Snus pronounced "snoose" are teabag-like pouches that users stick between their cheek and gum. Snus is flavored tobacco, packaged in little pouches, like tea bags.
The product is smokeless and spitless. Snus users place the tobacco pouch between the lip and the gum. However, snus users do not spit out the colorful excess saliva produced by other forms of dipping tobacco. Smokeless Tobacco Company. Through my own informal survey of El Paso area convenience stores, Camel Snus seems to be more widely available in our area than its competitors. In this regard, there is evidence that smokers use snus in conjunction with cigarettes, switching to snus when the environment does not allow smoking.
Strangely, Camel Snus is stored in small, countertop refrigerators at convenience stores, even though the product is typically used at room temperature. Since the products are relatively new to the United States, the research on their health effects is limited. Research from Sweden finds that male snus users, in comparison to non-tobacco users, have a higher incidence of pancreatic cancer, but no difference in lung or oral cancers.
Fermentation brings out naturally occurring ammonia in the tobacco, increasing its acidity and allowing the body to absorb nicotine more efficiently. Because it's pasteurized, snus tobacco has less ammonia. Snus users have to be more patient to get their nicotine fix. That's the trade-off for removing a cleaning product from your tobacco.
One 2-gram portion of snus gives a boost in blood nicotine concentration of around 15 nanograms one-billionth of a gram per milliliter of tobacco within 30 minutes. In contrast, a cigarette delivers about 23 nanograms per milliliter of nicotine in the first five minutes, but by 30 minutes the levels of nicotine in the body are comparable between the two products [source: Gartner et al.
To substitute for the flavor that's lost in the pasteurization process, snus manufacturers add lots of salt and sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda. Baking soda helps release nicotine whereas ammonia helps release nicotine in other tobacco products. This means that snus is just as addictive as cigarettes. But, as any heavy coffee drinker would argue, addictiveness alone doesn't necessarily make a product dangerous.
Even opponents of snus admit that it releases "cleaner" nicotine than cigarettes. The pasteurization of snus tobacco kills off nitrites chemical compounds of one part nitrogen and two parts oxygen , especially tobacco-specific nitrosamines TSNAs. TSNAs are one of the primary carcinogens found in tobacco, and have been correlated with cancers of the lungs, oral cavity, esophagus and liver from both cigarette and smokeless tobacco usage.
When tobacco is fermented, higher quantities of TSNAs are present. By refrigerating the snus after production, snus tobacco resists fermentation that tobacco stored at room temperatures undergoes even after its been packaged. Storing tobacco at room temperature for six months increases TSNA levels by 30 to percent, whereas in refrigerated snus tobacco there's no increase in TSNAs [source: Foulds et al. According to tobacco researchers, a snus user is 90 percent less likely to get cancer than a smoker [source: Levy et al.
Because there's no combustion when someone consumes snus, carcinogenic chemicals that lead to lung cancer like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons the byproduct of combustion of the tar in cigarettes , aren't present.
In fact, researchers report that there's no statistical difference in lung cancer rates between snus users and those who never use tobacco in any form [source: Foulds et al. Unlike dip and chew, which contain higher levels of TSNAs resulting from the fermentation of the tobacco, snus doesn't present a risk of oral or other head cancers [source: Gartner et al.
On the other hand, smoking doubles the risk of oral cancer and increases the risk of lung cancer tenfold [source: Gartner et al. When it comes to tobacco and safety, there's always a catch. One study found that almost nine out of every , snus users develop pancreatic cancer, compared to 13 out of every , smokers and 3.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most intractable forms of cancer; the majority of cases are diagnosed at a late stage once the disease has spread to other parts of the body, as there are no universal screening methods for earlier detection. Pregnant women using snus gave birth to babies weighing an average of 1. Snus also creates greater risk of oral lesions and tooth decay.
In spite of its risks, tobacco companies have been eager to point out that snus is safer than cigarettes. Keep reading to learn more about how snus has been marketed and regulated. If you've never heard of snus, you're not alone.
Both Altria and R. Reynolds have launched major national advertising campaigns to introduce the strange-sounding product to American markets. Both companies are advertising in magazines and wherever cigarettes are sold. Altria and R. Reynolds sell their snus lines in pre-packaged bundles along with packs of Marlboro and Camel cigarettes.
Congressional legislation that passed in June authorized the U. Until this legislation, tobacco marketing was restricted through a patchwork of judicial rulings. Tobacco companies can no longer use terms like "light" and "low tar" in their marketing materials, and will soon be required to add prominent warning labels such as "Smoking Kills" these will be more dramatic than the traditional Surgeon General's warning.
The bill didn't specify how smokeless products would be regulated, though it prohibits manufacturers from making claims that they are less harmful. With greater latitude to market smokeless products than cigarettes, tobacco companies have high hopes for snus. They have tried to make the claim that snus can help smokers quit. In a controversial letter to the FDA, Altria suggested that its smokeless products are designed to "complement proven prevention and cessation strategies, not to compete with them" [source: Wilson and Creswell ].
The companies have marketed the products as a way to get a nicotine fix when you can't smoke, like a nicotine gum. Tobacco control experts are saying not so fast. They warn that American snus products aren't actually snus. The tobacco delivers far lower levels of nicotine than traditional Swedish snus. This means that Marlboro and Camel snus won't calm nicotine cravings as effectively as nicotine replacement therapy NRT.
If you think this undermines the companies' claim that snus can help people stop smoking, you're not alone. This raises the question whether the companies are using snus to create new smokers. Unlike Swedish snus, which uses only light flavor additives, both products come in a variety of mint flavors, which have long been thought to appeal to young users. One line of Skoal, Altria's flavored dipping tobacco, has eight times the quantity of methyl salicylate flavoring, or wintergreen, as Wint-O-Green Life Savers [source: Wilson and Creswell ].
While there haven't been any studies showing the quantity of flavoring in Altria's and R. Reynolds snus products, the companies have demonstrated a willingness to stretch the definition of the truth -- or the snus, as the case may be.
In Sweden, one in five men and one in 25 women use snus [source: Gartner et al. Because so many Swedes use snus, Sweden has become a laboratory for tobacco experts to study the role smokeless tobacco products can play in getting people to quit smoking cigarettes. Swedish snus delivers more nicotine to the body than pharmaceutical NRT products like the patch or nicotine gum.
Marlboro and Camel snus have less nicotine , and therefore aren't effective cessation tools.
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