Snus

print page

We believe that adult consumers who choose to use snus should, once appropriately informed about the health risks, have the opportunity to do so.

Snus is an oral smokeless tobacco product, traditionally used in Sweden, which is manufactured using a tobacco heat-treatment process. Compared to many other tobacco products currently available, scientific evidence suggests that snus may pose fewer risks to health. This understanding has stimulated a debate within the public health community over the role of snus. Some argue that snus could have a beneficial role in reducing the risks associated with tobacco use; others point out that snus use is not risk-free and increasing the availability of snus may detract from tobacco-cessation efforts.

JTI acknowledges that there is no safe tobacco product, including snus, and that the use of snus is associated with risks to health. No studies suggest or conclude, however, that snus use poses the same degree or range of health risks as cigarettes. We thus believe that adult consumers who choose to use snus should, once appropriately informed about the health risks, have the opportunity to do so.

In 2008, the European Commission’s Scientific Committee for Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) published an opinion on the health effects of smokeless tobacco use.

The Committee found that, among the major smoking-related diseases, the use of smokeless tobacco poses fewer risks than that of cigarette smoking. Similar conclusions were reached in 2007 by the United Kingdom Royal College of Physicians and the New Zealand Health Technology Assessment Agency.

These Reports reflect the increasing recognition in the scientific and public health communities that different tobacco products pose different degrees of risk. This has led some, including the UK Royal College of Physicians and the American Association of Public Health Physicians, to suggest that snus may play a role in reducing the overall health burden they associate with tobacco use.

JTI is committed to developing products that reduce the risks of tobacco-related disease. Despite research efforts, however, to date no tobacco product has emerged that both is universally believed to be associated with less adverse health effects than those already on the market and which also meets consumers' taste expectations.

Whatever snus’s potential to address the risks associated with the use of tobacco products, governments are of course expected to regulate its manufacture, marketing, and sale. Indeed, JTI believes that regulation of snus, like many consumer products, is necessary and appropriate. Any changes in how snus is regulated should, however, comport with the OECD’s Principles of Good Regulation and rely on credible and substantiated scientific evidence and objective risk assessment. Governments should also afford all affected stakeholders a meaningful opportunity for input.

JTI manufactures Swedish-style snus in strict compliance with relevant market laws and its own internal standards. JTI does not make any health claims for its snus in its marketing; does not market it or other tobacco products to minors, non-users, or those who would otherwise quit tobacco use; and places appropriate health warnings on every package.