By Chris Bickers

Before Could snus, the Swedish style of smokeless tobacco known for its low nitrosamines, be set to play a bigger role in international tobacco consumption?

It is always hard to predict trends in this business and even harder in a relatively small market like smokeless.

But the activity at ground level leaves little doubt that British American Tobacco (BAT), Swedish Match, and Gallaher are all taking - or have recently taken - active steps to sell more snus.

BAT's bold move into this product area was announced in May. It introduced two new snuses - one an extension of its Lucky Strike cigarette line and the other of its Peter Stuyvesant cigarette line - that month in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Stockholm, Sweden, for consumer trials scheduled to last one year. If successful, sales will extend to more cities and countries, the company said.

BAT minced no words in indicating that it hopes that reduced harm will have a place in the marketing of its snus products.

"It is our product strategy, consistent with consumer demand, to develop less harmful products," Jimmi Rembiszewski, BAT Marketing Director, said in May. "We are keen to test their willingness to try smokeless tobacco, [and] launching smokeless variants of two of our leading brands underlines our commitment to the success of the trials."

Chris Proctor, head of science and regulation for the company, added, "We're also responding to public health stakeholders who told us they believe snus, properly regulated, can contribute to reducing the impact of tobacco on public health. We hope more stakeholders, including governments, will agree."

Snus is less harmful but not harmless, he said. "Smokers who switch should reduce their health risks, although the best way to avoid the risks is still not to consume tobacco at all."

A Sort of Pasteurization
How is snus different from any other moist snuff product? There are several identifying features, but by far the most significant one seems to be that true snus receives a heat treatment that is similar - or at least analogous - to pasteurization.

Patrik Hildingsson, vice president for new business development at Swedish Match North America, gave a bit of the history of snus at Smokeshop's request.

The treatment was developed by a Swedish smokeless tobacco company in the early part of the 20th century: The purpose was to increase the shelf life of the product. In 1915, all tobacco companies in the country were brought under the direction of a state monopoly, and its leaders, liking the process, decreed that all smokeless tobacco in the country should receive it, a practice that has continued to this day.

The shelf life may have been improved, and may still be better than competing products, but it is one of the side effects of the heat treatment that has become the major reason for interest in snus: The end product is very low in nitrosamines.

"We have been very successful in creating a very low level of nitrosamines and other undesired compounds, largely because of a mixture between curing and selection of raw tobacco and the heat treatment, which is an effective way to create a favorable biology," says Hildingsson.

Excellent Results in Sweden
The perception of less harm coming from snus than from cigarettes, along with tax advantages and anti-smoking regulations, has led to the "Swedish experience" through which Swedish consumers have converted heavily from cigarettes to snus.

"There has been a huge transformation in the Swedish market in the last 20 years," says Hildingsson. "Around 22 percent of Swedish men and two to three percent of women use snus daily. That is definitely the highest per capita consumption of snus in the world, and half of current Swedish snus users are former smokers."

Health benefits have clearly accrued. The risk for men of dying from a tobacco-related disease is less in Sweden than in any other European country. In addition, Sweden has among the lowest incidence of oral cancer in the world.

Swedish Match has chosen to emphasize snus' health benefits by creating a system called GothiaTek to promote a continual reduction of harmful elements in the product.

Defining Terms
Here is how BAT defines snus and its uses: Snus (which means snuff in Swedish) is made by grinding sun-cured and air-cured tobacco leaves, adding water, salt (for taste), and humectants (to keep it moist) before heating in a process similar to pasteurization.

Snus is usually placed behind the upper lip, either loose or in tiny sachets like miniature tea bags, containing from 0.4 to 1.5 grams of tobacco, according to BAT literature. It's held in the mouth, without chewing or sucking, and usually no expectoration, for about 30 minutes before being discarded. Snus contains nicotine in similar quantities to cigarettes.

BAT is not the only English tobacco company with a new interest in the snus market. Since 2002, Gallaher has owned the Swedish snus manufacturer Gustavus. Gallaher has invested in a new factory with a fully automated production system, and now its product, marketed under the name Gustavus, holds a 1.3 per cent share of the Swedish snus market. That doesn't sound like much, but it makes Gallaher/Gustavus the second largest player in the Swedish snus market after Swedish Match.

And Swedish Match is certainly not conceding any of the market. For several years, it has sold some of its snus brands in the major metropolitan areas of New York; Washington, D.C.; and Chicago. The effort appears to be a test, though on a rather large scale: One of the products that seemed to have the best prospects in the U.S. has been withdrawn from the U.S. market as a result of its performance. Called Exalt, it featured lower moisture content and was packed in mini pouches. For one reason or another, it didn't catch on.

But Hildingsson says the two other snus brands, General and Catch, are still good candidates for this market.

A final note: Don't expect snus to find favor with the American anti-tobacco lobby. Greg Connolly, a public health specialist at Harvard Medical School who seems to have a second career taking cheap shots at tobacco innovators, recently told the Columbia News Service that snus won't succeed by marketing itself as a safer alternative for smokers.

"This product is practically designed to keep people smoking," he says. "If anything, their strategy has the cigarette companies laughing all the way to the bank."