Category: Smokeless

Swedish Billionaire Invests in Sting Free
Erik Selin (Photo courtesy of Sting Free)
Swedish billionaire Erik Selin has invested SEK4.4 million ($434,247) in the Swedish nicotine pouch innovation company Sting Free. He has thus become the second largest shareholder in the company, which is now valued at just under SEK31 million. Sting Free’s other shareholders include Curt Enzell, inventor of the original snus pouch and Meg Tivéus, a former board member of Swedish Match.
Sting Free has developed and patented a pouch for modern oral nicotine products and snus, where one side has an integrated protective shield for the gums ((also see “Patching the Pouch,” Tobacco Reporter, July 2017). The shield effectively reduces the burning sensation and gum irritation that is normally caused by these products.
This is the third time Selin has invested in companies in the snus industry. He is already the largest Swedish shareholder in the snus giant Swedish Match and is also a major shareholder in Haypp Group, which is the largest e-trader of snus and modern oral nicotine pouches in Europe.
“We welcome Erik with open arms and could not have found a better partner,” said Sting Free founder and Chairman Bengt Wiberg.
“We are a tobacco harm reduction company whose technology has already received much media attention and an international award for removing the stinging sensation. The stinging sensation is often considered as being a deterrent for smokers and other nicotine users who have never tried smokefree oral nicotine products,” said Wiberg.
Sting Free AB recently conducted a survey with more than 1,000 snus and nicotine pouch using men and women in Sweden. The results show that the patented technology is in demand, especially among women and those who have, or are concerned about, oral health problems linked to their use of these types of products. The survey results shows that 59 percent of users dislike the familiar burning sensation and 56 percent have worried about their oral health in connection with their use of the products presently on the market.
The market for snus and tobacco-free nicotine pouches is presently worth approximately SEK9 billion per year in Scandinavia alone.
Before the end of 2022, Sting Free AB will launch its first tobacco-free nicotine pouch with the unique integrated Stingfree shield. “In the future our goal is to license the technology and thereby create a new standard in the industry that is as familiar to consumers as light products are for soft drinks or Gore-Tex is for clothes and shoes,” says Sting Free CEO Daniel Wiberg.
June 24, 2022
Prague to Regulate Pouches Like Tobacco

Photo: Andrii
The Czech Ministry of Health is preparing rules that would treat nicotine pouches as tobacco products, according to a Radio Prague international report.
Nicotine pouches are currently unregulated in the Czech Republic. “We are aware of the problems this causes,” said Ministry of Health spokesman Ondřej Jakob. “We are working on a decree that would determine the properties, the labelling and the regulation of the product. We are also working on an amendment to the current legislation.”
According to Jakob, the new decree could come into force within a few months.
Health activists have expressed concern about the growing popularity of nicotine pouches, especially among young people, in the Czech Republic. According to Marek Lžičař, an addictologist at St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno, children can develop an addiction in just a few weeks.
“The risk of addiction is huge for anyone, both for children and adults, and it shouldn’t be downplayed,” he said. “It is definitely risky behavior that could be a gateway to the use of other tobacco products. It could also lead to the use of softer or harder drugs.”
Experts attribute the growing use of addictive substances among children to the long social isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
June 22, 2022
Lucy Submits PMTAs for Modern Oral Products

Photo: Lucy Goods
Lucy Goods has submitted premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking marketing authorization of 42 of its modern oral nicotine products, including its innovative line of capsule pouches.
Lucy is a developer, marketer and distributor of next-generation nicotine products that offer adult tobacco consumers alternatives to conventional tobacco. One of the key product innovations described in Lucy’s recently submitted PMTAs is its use of nontobacco nicotine.
The nontobacco nicotine in Lucy products is manufactured using principles of green chemistry but is otherwise chemically identical to tobacco-derived nicotine in other modern oral products on the market, according to Lucy Goods. The low-waste manufacturing process does not require arable land or pesticides used in the cultivation of tobacco for tobacco-derived nicotine.
Lucy’s recent filings represent the second round of FDA applications from the company. In 2020, Lucy submitted PMTAs for its modern oral nicotine products containing tobacco-derived nicotine, which are currently under review by the FDA. Even before the FDA was granted regulatory authority over nontobacco nicotine products, the company had been engaged in serious efforts to prepare PMTAs for its suite of nontobacco nicotine products.
Willie McKinney
“Lucy’s commitment to working with the FDA is essential to its goal of delivering innovative nicotine products for switching adult smokers,” said Willie McKinney, CEO of McKinney Regulatory Science Advisors and a regulatory advisor to Lucy, in a statement. “These PMTAs for Lucy’s NTN [nontobacco nicotine] modern oral products demonstrate the company’s ability to drive such innovation responsibly.”
“Submitting PMTAs for our nontobacco nicotine products is a key milestone for us as we continue to create the highest quality and most innovative products in the industry,” stated David Renteln, CEO of Lucy. “We are proud of the evidence we have provided to the FDA in these PMTAs, and we look forward to working with the agency as the process moves forward.”
Lucy is an independently owned and operated nicotine alternative company formed with the mission of reducing tobacco-related harm to zero.
May 24, 2022
Streamline Launches ‘Fruit-Forward’ Pouches

Photo: The Streamline Group
The Streamline Group has launched Juice Head pouches, the latest addition to its line of premium, fruit-flavored nicotine products.
Featured in 6 mg and 12 mg tobacco-free nicotine strengths, Juice Head pouches are available in five premium, fruit first, mint second flavors: blueberry lemon mint, watermelon strawberry mint, mango strawberry mint, peach pineapple mint and raspberry lemonade mint.
Juice Head pouches are thin, white pouches that are made with Zero Tobacco Nicotine—a trademarked synthetic nicotine brand—and are available in 20-pouch cans and 5-can sleeves.
Compared to other nicotine pouches currently on the market, which are mainly offered in a variety of mint or mint with light fruit flavors, Juice Head pouches offer adult users a unique “fruit first, mint second,” rich flavor experience that’s on par with the brand’s world-renowned e-liquid flavors, according to the company.
“As the needs of our customers continue to evolve, we are proud to introduce a new product that’s unlike any other currently on the market and offers discreet, convenient, smoke-free, and tobacco-free nicotine satisfaction for adults around the world,” said Patrick Mulcahy, CEO and co-founder of the Streamline Group, in a statement.
“With the launch of Juice Head pouches, we plan to not only expand our product offering for our existing global customer base but to also introduce the Juice Head brand to an entirely new demographic of consumers, retailers and distributors that we had previously been unable to reach.
Juice Head is manufactured and distributed by Streamline Group, which is based out of Huntington Beach, California, USA.
April 19, 2022
Nordic Spirit Launches New Nicotine Pouch

Nordic Spirit has launched a spearmint version and an extra-strong nicotine option for its Bergamot Wildberry flavor, according to Talking Retail.
The extra-strong variant will also be available in the new spearmint flavor. Currently, 70 percent of nicotine pouch sales are made up of strong and extra-strong variants.
“The Nordic Spirit brand has gone from strength to strength since launching in 2019 with its range of nicotine pouches pivotal in driving category growth,” said Mark McGuiness, head of marketing at JTI U.K. “We strive to innovate and meet evolving customer demand, and the new launches do just that—helping retailers take advantage of the increasing market for stronger variants.”
March 4, 2022
Dalli: ‘No Evidence for Snus Bribery Allegation’

Photo: Kirill Ryzhov
Former European Commissioner John Dalli, who stands accused of trading in influence and attempted bribery to help lift the EU ban on snus, said that no evidence was brought against him in two recent sittings, according to a report by the Malta Independent.
Dalli’s statement was in reaction to the decision on Friday by Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo that enough evidence has been brought forward for him to stand trial.
Dalli has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“Some media in Malta must have had a schadenfreude pleasure in reporting the decision of the court that there is a prima facie case against me and therefore the compilation is to continue,” Dalli said.
“Anyone following the case objectively would know that in two sittings, not one shred of evidence has been brought against me. It must be said that it was my choice not to move for the prima facie dismissal of the case. I want this hearing to go through the full process and have the opportunity to expose the machinations of the Commission and OLAF officials about this case. This should start during the next sitting. I hope that there will be no attempt to stop this through claims of immunity.”
The case dates from 2012, when Dalli’s aide Silvio Zammit allegedly tried to obtain a €60 million ($71.17 million) bribe from Swedish Match to reverse the EU ban on snus. The company rejected the offer as improper and reported it to the European Commission.
Zammit who was charged in December 2012 for trading influence and complicity in the request, passed away earlier this year.
February 22, 2022
‘Dalligate’ Aide Dies

Photo: Bits and Splits
Silvio Zammit, a key figure in the “Dalligate” snus bribery scandal, died at age 57, reports Malta Independent.
A Maltese businessman and political canvasser for former EU Health Commissioner John Dalli, Zammit allegedly tried to solicit a €60 million ($68.20 million) bribe from Swedish Match in exchange for using his influence to lift the EU ban on selling snus.
Swedish Match rejected the offer as improper and reported it to the European Commission.
The European Commission forced Dalli to quit in 2012 after the EU’s anti-fraud office uncovered the bribery attempt. Zammit was charged in December 2012 for trading influence and complicity in the request.
The case against Dalli continues. On Feb. 9, 2022, he appeared in a Maltese court charged with bribery and trading influence, according to Euractiv.
Dalli has repeatedly said that he was framed, set up by the tobacco lobby to delay his draft anti-smoking legislation.
A Maltese investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana, who made various allegations against Dalli in her blog “Running Commentary,” was murdered in October 2017.
February 17, 2022
Guns N’ Roses Guitarist Lauds Snus

Popular Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash recently described snus as the “the best discovery in the world” when discussing his experience quitting combustible cigarettes.
The Nordic rock station Rockklassiker interviewed Slash last month, and the musician responded to questions from fans, one of which was from Bengt Wiberg, founder of EUforsnus and creator of Sting Free AB and the sting free snus pouch.
Wiberg asked Slash via social media, “Hi Slash, I think it is great that you quit smoking with the help of Swedish snus and love it! Do you support an end to the European Union snus ban, and do you support EUforsnus?”
“I used to (use snus),” Slash replied. “I did it for years and years and years, and I finally quit a few years ago, but when I first quit smoking, which was in 2009, pretty soon after that I discovered snus, and it was like the best discovery in the world. My God, it’s the greatest! So I did it from probably 2009 until 2015 or something like that. I used to have General snus shipped in from Sweden.”
Slash speaks further in the interview about his experience switching from combustible cigarettes to Swedish snus and eventually quitting nicotine completely in 2015. He visited Swedish Match’s flagship store in Stockholm while in town for a concert that year, where he stated that he received an “informative background on snus and how it’s made,” according to Snusforumet.
Snus is currently banned in the EU with the exception of Sweden. Sweden has a 5 percent rate of daily smokers (close to the World Health Organization’s smoke-free goal), attributing the low number to the use of snus and tobacco-free modern oral nicotine pouches, such as Velo, Zyn and Loop.
Slash did not specifically say whether he supports lifting the EU ban on snus, but Wiberg feels confident that Slash’s sentiments on snus speak for themselves.
February 4, 2022
Cerulean Debuts Snus Test Station

Photo: Cerulean
Cerulean has launched Orion, the world’s first automated test station for snus.
The Orion can handle oral pouches of all commercially available size formats, including mini, large, maxi and slim.
The instrument measures pouch weight, length, width, end seam width, longitudinal seam overlap width and pouch tensile strength. According to Cerulean, the Orion requires only a few minutes to configure and perform the test. The instrument is equipped with an intuitive user interface that provides key information, graphical representation of process capability and stores the data in a network accessible SQL database. A powerful vision system takes images of both sides of every pouch that are used to measure the pouch dimensions, seams width and longitudinal seam position.
The Orion test station reduces the number of operators per line and provides fast, consistent and repeatable users’ independent testing process with real time visualization of the test results, configurable report generators and readily available connectivity to LIMS and MES systems.
According to Cerulean, the Orion saves operator time and improves quality through independent, fast, consistent and repeatable testing of pouches. With a real time visualization of test results and configurable report generation, the Cerulean test station guarantees that the production process is always in control.
January 29, 2022
Snus Use at Record High in Norway

Photo: uskarp2
Daily snus use in Norway has nearly doubled in a decade, reports Norway Today, citing figures released by Statistics Norway (SSB). Nearly 15 percent of the population consumed snus daily in 2021 compared with 8 percent 10 years ago.
The proportion of daily snus users is at the highest level ever, jumping to 15 percent in 2021, according to SSB consultant Sindre Mikael Haugen.
Figures show that 21 percent of men use snus on a daily basis while the figure was 8 percent for women.
Meanwhile, the number of people who smoke daily decreased slightly. Some 8 percent of 16-year-olds to 74-year-olds stated that they light up daily compared to 9 percent in 2020.
Women (9 percent) were more likely to smoke daily than men (6 percent). While Baby Boomers (55-year-olds to 64-year-olds) smoke most, this group also experienced the greatest decline in smoking rates recently. Only 14 percent of this age group smoke compared to 17 percent in 2020.
January 25, 2022