(Bloomberg) -- Big Tobacco is turning to free giveaways of nicotine pouches in the UK through websites and at summer music festivals to lure consumers to the orally-administered substitute for smoking and vaping.

Tobacco companies are trying to show smokers that pouches — which in the UK are regulated only by general product safety laws — are a convenient way to get a nicotine hit in places where restrictions prevent smoking, like in the office or on airplanes. A few clicks on the website of British American Tobacco Plc’s Velo brand and a consumer in the UK can order a sample can of Polar Mint, Ruby Berry or Tropical Breeze nicotine pouches. Japan Tobacco International plans to give them away at the Isle of Wight and Creamfields music festivals later this year.

As one of the less visible smoking alternatives, nicotine pouches need some explanation. The product looks like a tiny pack of salt or sugar, and they’re often sold in bright-colored tins. The user places the pouch under the upper lip and nicotine flows into the bloodstream, making first-timers a bit nauseous. For those familiar with Swedish snus, the product is used in a similar way, creating an odd bulge above the lip. However, unlike snus, the pouches don’t contain any tobacco — just nicotine and other ingredients, mostly for flavor. 

Manufacturers say the pouches, which can be legally sold to those under 18, offer a safer alternative to smoking, without the harmful effects of tar and other toxins, and provide a path to quitting cigarettes. Critics say the danger — like with vaping — is that young people who don’t smoke will get hooked on a highly addictive, expensive substance, that could pose health risks and serve as a gateway to tobacco use. 

It’s “outrageous” that companies can legally hand out free nicotine pouches to minors, says Deborah Arnott, chief executive of anti-smoking group ASH.  

“For over two years, ASH and the academic experts have been urging the government to address the massive loopholes,” she said, adding that regulations are failing to keep up with new nicotine product categories. 

The marketing of nicotine pouches is helping to gradually boost their popularity, though they still remain a niche product. Just one in 400 adults in Britain used them in 2021 — although that’s more than double the rate in 2020, according to Nicotine & Tobacco Research. As a louder chorus of health experts calls for greater curbs on the sale and marketing of vaping products, nicotine pouches could gain in popularity, particularly among minors.

JTI, BAT and Swedish Match say their own marketing codes prohibit the sale to children and they require identification for online orders. JTI said its presence at festivals is a way for existing adult smokers and vapers to learn more about the Nordic Spirit pouches and anyone who looks under 25 is required to show ID. 

BAT said pouches are helping to reduce the health impact of its business. Consumers are first asked for a selfie on the Velo site, and a government ID is requested if there is any doubt the consumer is the age they say they are.

Accelerating Market 

Tobacco companies have been pushing hard into oral tobacco and nicotine for some time and the market is expected to surge sixfold by 2026, according to some estimates. Philip Morris International agreed to pay $16 billion for Swedish Match last year, drawn to its snus and nicotine pouches, which will bring the cigarette maker closer to its goal of making its sales majority smoke-free by 2025. Swedish Match also gives Zyn pouches free online in the UK.

“The market for recreational nicotine has many parts and no one product appeals to all consumers at all times,” says Rae Maile, analyst at Panmure Gordon. “Each of the majors has a presence in oral tobacco products to some degree.”

While nicotine pouches are considered to be far less harmful to health than smoking, carcinogens were found in more than half of the nicotine pouches sampled in one study. Swedish Match and JTI say their products don’t contain any identifiable levels of these chemicals. 

JTI says more studies are required into pouches, although the scientific consensus is that nicotine doesn’t cause cancer. BAT points to a 2022 study which shows that consumers of its Velo pouches had significantly better results for smoking-related diseases than smokers. However, researchers at the University of Nebraska have said there’s no data to show pouches are a safe or effective way to quit.  

That said, low long-term lung cancer mortality rates in Sweden are attributed to the popularity of oral tobacco product snus. A Swedish Match spokesperson said nicotine pouches play a big role in converting adults who smoke to better alternatives.   

Soft Touch

Countries have taken vastly different approaches to regulating smoke-free nicotine products. The US Food and Drug Administration, for example, has been focused on preventing companies marketing vapes to children, banning most flavors and online sales. However, the UK government has taken a different tack and this week said it will offer smokers free vapes to help them quit under a new “swap to stop” program. It has yet to move on the regulation of nicotine pouches.

Read More: UK Government to Offer Free Vapes to Push Smokers to Quit

BAT expects nicotine pouches to be regulated at a European level as part of the next revision of tobacco products regulation expected this year. Having left the bloc, Britain will need to develop its own regulatory system. 

In the absence of regulation, JTI and BAT say they’ve come up with their own voluntary agreement. The full details of this are not available online but it includes a 20 milligram maximum for nicotine content per pouch, which is stronger than most cigarettes anyway. They also promise not to market to children.

Not everyone thinks that is enough though. Volutunary codes of practice never work, said Arnott, as “Big Tobacco cannot be relied on to police itself.”

(Michael R. Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, has been a longtime champion of tobacco control efforts.)

--With assistance from Marthe Fourcade.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.