Tobacco-free snus: what it is and how it differs
Our nicotine products are tobacco-free snus, also called white snus or nicotine pouches. It looks a lot like traditional Swedish snus and sits in the same place under the lip, but it's a different product under the law, and its evidence base is much thinner. This page explains what tobacco-free snus is, how it differs from snus made with tobacco, and how each is regulated, using official sources listed at the end.
Updated
What tobacco-free snus is
Swedish law calls these products tobaksfria nikotinprodukter and defines one as a product without tobacco that contains nicotine for consumption. The FDA describes nicotine pouches as small synthetic fibre pouches containing nicotine, designed to be placed between the gum and lip, and the CDC says they contain a powder made of nicotine, flavourings and other ingredients.
Sweden's Public Health Agency (Folkhälsomyndigheten) says nicotine snus often contains plant fibres with added nicotine, sweeteners, pH-regulating substances and flavourings. 1177, the Swedish national health guide, describes white snus as containing no parts of the tobacco plant, only plant fibres and nicotine.
"Tobacco-free" describes the filler, not the nicotine. The World Health Organization notes that pouches are often promoted as tobacco-free, but the nicotine may have been extracted from tobacco and may contain substances originally present in tobacco.
What traditional snus is
EU law defines tobacco for oral use as tobacco products made wholly or partly of tobacco, in powder or particulate form, particularly those presented in sachet portions or porous sachets. Swedish snus is that kind of product: 1177 describes brown snus, also called tobacco snus, as containing tobacco and nicotine.
According to Folkhälsomyndigheten, besides nicotine, tobacco snus can contain metals and other harmful substances and chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrosamines.
Tobacco-free snus vs snus: how each is regulated
In the EU, the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) requires member states to prohibit placing tobacco for oral use on the market. The ban goes back to Directive 89/622/EEC, and Article 151 of the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden gives Sweden a derogation. That's why tobacco snus is sold legally in Sweden but can't be placed on the market in other EU countries.
Tobacco-free pouches don't contain tobacco, so that ban doesn't apply. The European Commission's 2026 evaluation of the tobacco rules says nicotine pouches are not currently regulated by the EU tobacco control framework, and that member states have taken differing approaches, from complete bans to maximum nicotine limits.
- Sweden: tobacco snus falls under Lag (2018:2088) om tobak och liknande produkter, and tobacco-free products under Lag (2022:1257) om tobaksfria nikotinprodukter. Both laws set an 18-year age limit. Since 1 April 2024, Livsmedelsverket's regulations LIVSFS 2024:2 cover snus and snus-like products, which the agency says are sometimes called white snus, with rules on ingredients, manufacturing hygiene and labelling.
- Sweden: Folkhälsomyndigheten says the nicotine content of snus is unregulated and varies between products, and is generally higher in nicotine snus.
- Netherlands: nicotine pouches may no longer be sold from 1 January 2025 (RIVM).
- France: decree 2025-898 bans oral products containing nicotine. On 13 July 2026 the Conseil d'État held the ban on offering, selling, acquiring and using them compatible with EU law, and referred the ban on production, transport, import, export and possession to the EU Court of Justice.
- Denmark: nicotine pouches may contain at most 9.0 mg of nicotine per pouch, from 1 July 2025.
- United States: in January 2025 the FDA authorised 20 specific ZYN pouch products for sale to adults 21 and older.
What's known about health
Neither product is safe. The CDC states that there are no safe tobacco products, including nicotine pouches, and that scientists are still learning about the short- and long-term health effects of pouches. The WHO describes the category as having high addiction potential. Sweden's quitline, Sluta-röka-linjen, says white snus often has a high pH, which makes the nicotine absorbed faster and raises the risk of dependence, and that research on its long-term health effects is lacking because it has only been on the market for a few years.
Most of what's known about snus comes from tobacco snus. Folkhälsomyndigheten says knowledge of the health risks of snus is based mainly on research on tobacco snus, because nicotine snus is relatively new, and that missing knowledge doesn't mean risks can be ruled out. For snus use it lists effects on the heart and blood vessels, a higher risk of type 2 diabetes (seen mainly above four cans a week), complications in pregnancy, and changes in the mucous membranes of the tongue and damage to the gums where the snus is placed. It says the link between snus and cancer is not clear-cut.
In the mouth, the two don't behave the same. A Swedish cross-sectional study of 18 to 30 year olds (Daneshian et al., Oral Diseases, 2026) found that nicotine pouch users more often had redness (erythema) and reported more oral symptoms, while thickened tissue (hyperkeratosis) was more common among tobacco snus users. The authors concluded that nicotine pouches appear to induce broader mucosal responses than tobacco-containing snus.
One regulator has made a comparative finding, and its scope matters. In January 2025 the FDA said its evaluation showed that, due to substantially lower amounts of harmful constituents than cigarettes and most smokeless tobacco products such as moist snuff and snus, the 20 authorised ZYN products pose lower risk of cancer and other serious health conditions than those products. That finding covers those 20 products only, and the FDA said the authorisation does not mean they are safe or "FDA approved".
Why we only sell tobacco-free products
Every brand on this site is tobacco-free: Klint, 77, Cuba, White Fox, CLEW, NEAFS and STNG. We don't sell tobacco snus. Outside Sweden, EU law bars tobacco for oral use from the market, while tobacco-free pouches are regulated country by country. Our shipping page covers delivery by country.
If you're used to tobacco snus
Don't assume the numbers carry over. Folkhälsomyndigheten notes that nicotine content is generally higher in nicotine snus, and brands use their own words for strength, so a can labelled "Strong" in one range may not match a "Strong" in another. Read the figure and its unit (mg/g or mg per pouch) on each can.
We don't name any pouch as a substitute for a particular snus. We haven't reviewed or tested any product yet, and a comparison of how products feel would need testing we haven't done. Pouches aren't a licensed way to stop using nicotine either: the NHS says they are not licensed stop smoking products.
Help to stop
If you want to stop using snus of either kind, Sluta-röka-linjen (020-84 00 00) is a free Swedish support line for anyone thinking about stopping smoking or snus, by phone or chat. Outside Sweden, your doctor, a pharmacist or your national health service can point you to local support.
Related guides
What are nico pods? Nicotine pouches explained
Nico pods, nicopods and nic pods are all names for nicotine pouches. What's in them, how strength is labelled, mg/g vs mg per pouch, and the age rules.
Swedish nicotine pouches: what the label means
What does Swedish mean on a nicotine pouch? Where the brands we carry say they're made, who runs them, and how Swedish law regulates tobacco-free pouches.
Nicotine pouches side effects: what's known
Nicotine pouches side effects reported by the CDC, WHO, FDA and clinical studies: dependence, mouth irritation, heart rate, pregnancy, children, unknowns.
Sources
- Sveriges riksdag: Lag (2022:1257) om tobaksfria nikotinprodukter
- Sveriges riksdag: Lag (2018:2088) om tobak och liknande produkter
- EUR-Lex: Directive 2014/40/EU (Tobacco Products Directive)
- Livsmedelsverket: LIVSFS 2024:2, föreskrifter om snus, snusliknande produkter och tuggtobak
- Livsmedelsverket: Snus, snusliknande produkter och tuggtobak: vägledning till de nya reglerna
- Folkhälsomyndigheten: Hälsorisker med snusning
- 1177: Rökning och snusning: så påverkas din hälsa
- Sluta-röka-linjen: Vitt snus, e-cigaretter och heat-not-burn-produkter
- Sluta-röka-linjen: Om oss
- CDC: Nicotine pouches
- World Health Organization: Tobacco and nicotine (fact sheet)
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: FDA authorizes marketing of 20 ZYN nicotine pouch products after extensive scientific review (16 January 2025)
- NHS Better Health: Quit with nicotine replacement therapies (NRT)
- Oral Diseases: Daneshian M et al. Oral lesions and dental status in individuals using oral tobacco-free nicotine pouches (2026)
- European Commission: Evaluation of the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU), the Tobacco Advertising Directive and related tobacco control policies, SWD(2026) 111
- RIVM: Frequently asked questions (tobacco, information for suppliers)
- Légifrance: Décret n° 2025-898 du 5 septembre 2025 relatif à l'interdiction des produits à usage oral contenant de la nicotine
- Conseil d'État: Analyses du Conseil d'État du 1er au 15 juillet 2026 (CE, 13 juillet 2026, n° 509446 et s.)
- Retsinformation: Bekendtgørelse nr. 249 af 4. marts 2025 om grænseværdier for nikotinindhold i tobakssurrogater