Our unique strategy is designed to capitalise on our vast innovation expertise, emerging evidence, and range of products, so they can be accessed by adult consumers and other interested stakeholders, such as scientists, investors, and public health bodies.
Firstly, we are committed to providing adult consumers with a wide range of enjoyable and less risky* products. Secondly, we make it clear that combustible cigarettes pose serious health risks. And, thirdly, we encourage those smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke, to switch completely to scientifically-substantiated, reduced-risk* alternatives.
To further consumer choice, we have three New Categories – Vapour Products, Tobacco Heating Products and Modern Oral Products. All adhere to strict product quality standards, undergoing thousands of hours of testing before they reach the consumer.
There is growing consensus among many members of the public health community and academics about the role of vapour products as a reduced-risk*† alternative to smoking. This is supported by a wealth of other evidence reviews, studies and reports throughout the world1. In the UK, for example, Public Health England has published a series of expert reviews of the latest evidence, drawing on peer-reviewed literature, surveys and other reports, concluding: “based on current knowledge, vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking”.
By heating tobacco rather than burning, THPs have the potential to be reduced risk* compared to smoking. Although most research has been conducted by the industry, an increasing number of independent reports are broadly aligned with our findings and support the role of THPs as a less risky* alternative. For example, a study commissioned by the UK Department of Health in 2017 found that people using THPs were exposed to around 50–90% less of the “harmful and potentially harmful” compounds compared with conventional cigarettes2.
In 2018, Public Health England, while highlighting the need for more research, found that “compared with cigarettes, heated tobacco products are likely to expose users and bystanders to lower levels of particulate matter, and harmful and potentially harmful compounds33.”
In September 2022, we published the full results from our one-year clinical study of glo. The results showed that smokers switching exclusively to glo achieved significant and sustained improvements in several indicators of potential harm associated with early disease development compared to smokers who continued to smoke4. This included lung disease, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
A wealth of epidemiological evidence from Sweden over many decades shows that use of snus, a type of traditional oral tobacco, is substantially less risky than smoking. This has been confirmed by the US FDA which, in 2019, formally recognised that switching completely from cigarettes to a snus product can lower the risks of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis5. Our own research has shown that our Modern Oral Products have even fewer and lower levels of toxicants than observed in snus, and toxicological studies have shown that modern oral products have even lower impact on human cells than snus6. ** We are confident that further research will support our belief that consumers of modern oral products will be exposed to even fewer toxicants than snus users and modern oral products can be expected to present lower risk than continued cigarette smoking.
*Based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.
Our products as sold in the US, including Vuse, Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, and Camel Snus, are subject to FDA regulation and no reduced-risk claims will be made as to these products without agency clearance.
*Comparison based on an assessment of smoke from a scientific standard reference cigarette (approximately 9 mg tar) and components released during use of a commercial snus (tobacco) pouch and a Velo (nicotine) pouch, in terms of the average of the nine harmful components WHO recommends to reduce in cigarette smoke.
1. House of Commons. Science and technology – seventh report. March 6. 2005. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/ cmselect/cmsctech/96/9602.htm.
2. Committees on Toxicity, Carcinogenicity and Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, CONSUMER Products and the Environment (COT, COC and COM). Statement on the toxicological evaluation of novel heat-not-burn tobacco products. December, 2017.
https:// cot.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/heat_not_burn_tobacco_ statement.pdf.
3. McNeill A, Brose LS, Calder R, Bauld L, Robson D. Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018. A report commissioned by Public Health England. London: Public Health England, 2018.
4. Gale N, McEwan M, Hardie G et al (2022) Changes in biomarkers of exposure and biomarkers of potential harm after 360 days in smokers who either continue to smoke, switch to a tobacco heating product or quit smoking. Intern Emerg Med. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-022-03062-1.
5. US Food and Drug Administration. FDA grants first-ever modified risk orders to eight smokeless tobacco products. October 22, 2019. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fdagrants-first-ever-modified-risk-orders-eight-smokeless-tobaccoproducts.
6. Bishop E, East N, Bozhilova S, et al. An approach for the extract generation and toxicological assessment of tobacco-free ‘modern’ oral nicotine pouches. Food Chem Toxicol 2020; 145: 111713. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2020.111713
