Researchers at Rutgers University’s Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco (CRST) say their real-time monitoring system, developed after Juul’s rapid rise, is helping regulators identify emerging nicotine products before they become widespread. In a special issue of Preventive Medicine Reports, the center detailed how it combines retail audits, sales data, marketing surveillance, and consumer surveys to track more than 50 tobacco and nicotine brands.
“Large federal surveys are like an aircraft carrier in the ocean,” said Cristine Delnevo, CRST’s director and principal investigator. “They’re extremely powerful in many ways, but they can’t pivot quickly.”
The researchers highlighted the system’s early identification of unauthorized disposable vape brand Geek Bar, which they correctly predicted would surpass Juul in sales by late 2025, as well as the rapid growth of nicotine pouches led by Zyn. The center also found that pouch users are predominantly adults with prior cigarette or other tobacco use, while emphasizing that continued surveillance is needed to monitor whether marketing begins attracting new youth users as the category expands.
The center, which is in the fourth year of its five-year contract with the FDA and the National Cancer Institute, publishes regularly updated fact sheets on emerging brands on its website.
