Smokeless Tobacco: Products and Marketing

Smokeless tobacco:

• Is not burned¹
• Includes tobacco that can be sucked or chewed¹
• Can be spit or swallowed, depending on the product¹
• Can be spitless, depending on the product²
• Contains nicotine and is addictive¹
• May appeal to youth because it comes in flavors such as cinnamon, berry, vanilla, and apple^3,4

Types of smokeless tobacco:

• Chewing tobacco (loose leaf, plug, or twist and may come in flavors)¹
• Snuff (moist, dry, or in packets [U.S. snus])¹
• Dissolvables (lozenges, sticks, strips, orbs)³

Chewing Tobacco

Chewing tobacco comes in the form of loose leaf, plug, or twist¹

Form	Description	Use	Market Share (in 2011)*5
*Market share is the percentage of the U.S. smokeless tobacco market for a specific product. For example, almost 2 of every 10 smokeless products (17.5%) sold in the United States in 2011 were loose-leaf smokeless tobacco products.5
Loose leaf	Cured (aged) tobacco, typically sweetened and packaged in foil pouches	Piece taken from pouch and placed between cheek and gums	17.5%
Plug	Cured tobacco leaves pressed together into a cake or "plug" form and wrapped in a tobacco leaf	Piece taken from pouch and placed between cheek and gums	0.5%
Twist or roll	Cured (aged) tobacco leaves twisted together like a rope	Piece cut off from twist and placed between cheek and gums	0.2%

Snuff

Snuff is finely ground tobacco that can be dry, moist, or packaged in pouches or packets (dip, U.S. snus).^2,4

• Some types of snuff are sniffed or inhaled into the nose; other types are placed in the mouth.
• Snus is a newer form of moist snuff used in the United States.

Form	Description	Use	Market Share (in 2011)*5
*Market share is the percentage of the U.S. smokeless tobacco market for a specific product. For example, more than 8 of every 10 snuff products sold in the United States in 2011 were moist snuff products.5
Moist	Cured (aged) and fermented tobacco processed into fine particles and often packaged in round cans	Pinch or "dip" is placed between cheek or lip and gums; requires spitting	80.7%
Dry	Fire-cured tobacco in powder form	Pinch of powder is put in the mouth or inhaled through the nose; may require spitting	1.1%
U.S. snus	Moist snuff packaged in ready-to-use pouches that resemble small tea bags	Pouch is placed between cheek or teeth and gums; does not require spitting	Data unavailable

Other Tobacco Products That Are Not Burned

Dissolvables are finely ground tobacco pressed into shapes such as tablets, sticks, or strips.³

• Dissolvable tobacco products slowly dissolve in the mouth.
• These products may appeal to youth because they come in attractive packaging, look like candy or small mints, and can be easily hidden from view.

Form	Description	Market Share (in 2011)
Lozenges	Resemble pellets or tablets	Data unavailable
Orbs	Resemble small mints	Data unavailable
Sticks	Have a toothpick-like appearance	Data unavailable
Strips	Thin sheets that work like dissolvable breath strips or medication strips	Data unavailable

Marketing Information

Some cigarette companies now make and sell smokeless tobacco products.²

• In 2014, more than $600 million was spent on advertising and promotion of smokeless tobacco products.⁶
• Some cigarette companies advertise that smokeless tobacco can be used in places where tobacco smoking is not allowed.⁷
• Additional research is needed to examine long-term effects of newer smokeless tobacco products, such as dissolvables and U.S. snus.

References

1. World Health Organization. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Volume 89: Smokeless Tobacco and Some Tobacco-Specific N-Nitrosamines [PDF–3.18 MB]. Lyon (France): World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2007 [accessed 2016 Dec 8].
2. Mejia AB, Ling PM. Tobacco Industry Consumer Research on Smokeless Tobacco Users and Product Development. American Journal of Public Health 2010;100(1):78–87 [cited 2016 Dec 8].
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012 [accessed 2016 Dec 8].
4. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Smokeless Tobacco and Kids[PDF–4.87 MB]. [accessed 2016 Dec 8].
5. Maxwell JC. The Maxwell Report. The Smokeless Tobacco Industry in 2011. Richmond (VA): John C. Maxwell, Jr., 2013 [cited 2016 Dec 8].
6. Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Smokeless Tobacco Report for 2014[PDF–563.53 KB]. Washington: Federal Trade Commission, 2016 [accessed 2016 Dec 8].
7. Timberlake DS, Pechmann C, Tran SY, Au V. A Content Analysis of Camel Snus Advertisements in Print Media. Nicotine and Tobacco Research 2011;13(6):431–9 [cited 2016 Dec 8].