Boxes and bags of Zyn nicotine on a table in New York City on January 29, 2024.
Miguel M. Santiago | fake images
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally authorized the sale of Zyn nicotine pouches after conducting an “extensive scientific review” of their safety.
In a statement Thursday, the agency said it had found that the popular pouches posed a lower risk of cancer and other serious health conditions compared to cigarettes, as well as other smokeless tobacco products.
The agency also found that the bags even had the potential to benefit cigarette smokers amid evidence that they can get them to quit smoking.
“The data shows that these nicotine pouch products meet that requirement by benefiting adults who use cigarettes and/or smokeless tobacco products and completely switch to these products,” said Matthew Farrelly, Ph.D., director of the Office of Science at the FDA Center. for Tobacco Products, said in a statement.
Zyn usage has skyrocketed in recent years following a viral online meme trend, even leading to a shortage last year. However, the product had been operating in a legal gray area while undergoing an official FDA review of its health effects and acceptance among young users.
On this last point, the FDA found that, so far, Zyn use among minors appeared to be relatively low, although it continued to monitor the trend.
A spokesman for Philip Morris International Inc., which owns the U.S. rights to Zyn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the statement, the FDA emphasized that its findings on Zyn do not mean that the products are ultimately safe, nor that they are “FDA-approved.”
“There is no such thing as a safe tobacco product,” the agency stated. “Young people should not use tobacco products and adults who do not use tobacco products should not start using tobacco products.”
