Marlboro Snus Isn’t Really Snus
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Jonathan Foulds, MA, MAppSci, PhD
Swedish snus is a moist snuff product (50% water) that delivers a comparable amount of nicotine to a cigarette. However, it appears that most of the versions being test-marketed in the US have very low nicotine delivery. Marlboro snus, in particular, appears to be a quite different product from Swedish snus. It is relatively dry (12% water), has a low pH, and therefore delivers an amount of nicotine to the blood that is less than 20% of that delivered by leading brands of Swedish snus (e.g. General) or US smokeless (e.g. Copenhagen) or cigarettes. On analyzing some of the data on Marlboro snus, and trying to understand why Philip Morris have produced a product with such low nicotine delivery, Dr Helena Furberg (from University of North Carolina) and I suspect that the product may be designed to fail. If you have tried any of the new smokeless tobacco products being test-marketed in the US or other countries (e.g Taboka, Camel snus, Marlboro snus, Ariva, Exalt, Skoal Dry, Revel, etc) I’d be interested to hear what you thought of them and their marketing.
If you are thinking of switching from smoking to a safer form of nicotine delivery, then far better to miss out the tobacco products altogether and move onto a product with reasonable nicotine delivery but no carcinogens, like 4mg nicotine gum. Some of the NRT products are now being sold in much better flavors than the original. They are not intended for long-term use, but if you feel you want to keep taking nicotine in a form that won’t kill you, this is a better choice than some unregulated tobacco product with unknown ingredients and nicotine delivery.
If you’d like to read the full article on Marlboro snus, with links to other data, it can be accessed at:
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/5/1/9
Labels: jonathan foulds, marlboro snus, nicotine regulation reduction smoking smokeless, tobacco
5 Comments:
At Thu Mar 06, 11:45:00 AM 2008,
Anonymous said…
Dr. Foulds,
You mentioned 4 mg nicotine gum and it not being carcinogenic. I am an ex smoker who "enjoys" two pieces of 2/mg nicotine gum each day (generic brand). I love it and I haven't smoked as a result of my chewing habit in years. I am, however, addicted to the 2/mg gum and have questioned whether I should quit chewing it. Other than it being addictive, does 2/mg nicotine gum pose any short- or long-term health complication risks?
Thanks
At Thu Mar 06, 07:40:00 PM 2008,
Jonathan Foulds, MA, MAppSci, PhD said…
Dear Anonymous of March 6th,
People who feel that they are addicted to nicotine gum typically chew more than 2 pices per day. In that case then there can occasionally be the unwanted effects of chronic chewing: jaw ache and gradual wear-and-tear.
Nicotine doesn't cause cancer of the respiratory diseases caused by smoking. There is a slight, theoretical cardiovascular risk (nicotine stimulates heart rate and causes constriction of blood vessels). However the epidemiology of long term heavy smokeless tobacco users (who absorb high doses of nicotine without smoke) suggests that these risks are very small even after decades of use. At the level you are using the gum they are negligible. The main situation where there would be a strong reason to come of the gum would be if you were pregnant as nicotine is definately not good for the unborn child. So assuming you are not pregnant or planning to be, your risks are negligible and need to be weighed against the risks of returning to smoking if you cease using the gum.
At Fri Jul 04, 04:46:00 PM 2008,
Mr. UnloadingZone said…
Dr Foulds,
You missed the one single most significant item about Marlboro "snus": nicotine aside, it isn't snus at all: they just use the name.
The most important factors in my choosing Swedish snus to replace cigarettes was that Swedish snus is regulalated as a food product, and MOST importantly, it is steam pasturized to eliminate carcinogenic micro-organisms.
Unlike Swedish, and yes, even Camel snus, Marlboro does NOT steam or heat pasturize their product. Thus it is no safer than American Chewing tobacco or "dip".
Exhustive long-term studies in Europe have shown that Swedish men are the largest user group of snus in Europe, yet have the lowest incidents of oral or lung cancer.
Nicotine, as you correctly point out, is not a carcinigen. When snus's popularity began to grow, "research" emerged that "long term use" (undefined) of snus can cause pancreatic cancer via the nicotine.
Ultimately, this may be proven true but right now, has the credibility that "second hand smoke caused lung cancer" when that so-called research was first released in the 1960's. At the time, (and at this time with snus) there were no long-term or even short term studies that proved this.
It was a brilliant marketing ploy and a good guess by the 1960's "we don't like the way cigarettes smell" group.
Until then, non-smokers who didn't like the oder of smoke would say "let him kill himself; I'm smarter than that." The second hand smoke argument changed all that. Suddenly it's "I don't like the smell AND he's killing me too!" All with NO evidence at the time.
Today the case is better, though I seem to remember a few years ago the WHO publishing a 20 year study which concluded there was no measurable rise in the cancer rates of non-smokers due to 2nd hand smoke.
The outcry was enormous and the study was taken down from their web site within 24 hours.
The only relevency in my bringing that up was; in regards to snus, the benefits so outweigh the "possible long-term", as of now, unsupstanciated claims of a few linking it to pancreatic cancer that their "research" is really not worth considering at this point.
I no longer smoke cigarettes, am not forced to go through nicotine withdrawl or abstinance, and can still enjoy great tobacco taste...discreetly. With real Swedish snus.
As to Marlboro, they are either misrepresenting their porduct or found it unnecessarily to explain in their FAQ's if it really is snus or not. As I read them today, it's not.
Sincerely,
Mr. Unloadingzone
At Fri Jul 04, 04:51:00 PM 2008,
Mr. UnloadingZone said…
Dr. Foulds,
I forgot to mention, in regards to nicotine, Swedish snus ranges from no nicotine at all up to about 11mg in the Stong/Stark/Sterk variety.
Sincerely,
Mr. Unloadingzone
At Thu Jul 24, 12:44:00 PM 2008,
Anonymous said…
you said you were interested in experiences of people who tried new american brands of snus-
I've tried camel snus, based on the safety hype, as a non smoker. I like how it makes me feel, but the flavors, even in the unflavored variety, have become nauseating. It is like they used really cheap artificial flavors, bad enough to keep me from making a habit develop. I really enjoy the buzz though.
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