Sweet flavoured nicotine pouches are more likely to be consumed in high quantities by users than other varieties, researchers have warned.
The number of adults who have ever used nicotine pouches has doubled since 2020 to 5.4 per cent, according to research by King’s College London.
Nicotine pouches are small sachets designed to be placed between the upper lips and gums. Unlike other products, such as snus, these pouches do not contain tobacco and just release nicotine slowly.
But certain flavours could be more addictive than others, according to US researchers from the Yale School of Medicine.
Although flavours do not significantly impact nicotine absorption, they significantly influence user satisfaction and increase the likelihood that people will continue using nicotine products.
In a study published in the journal in Nicotine & Tobacco Research the effects of the sweetener’s sucrose and saccharin, as well as the commonly used flavour additive cinnamaldehyde (the principal chemical of cinnamon) in nicotine were tested on rats.
The researchers supplied the female and male adult Sprague Dawley rats with the various nicotine and flavour-enhanced water solutions.
They found that both male and female rates significantly preferred sucrose and saccharin, but not the cinnamon flavouring.
However, female rats showed the highest nicotine preference when combined with sucrose, while males preferred nicotine combined with cinnamon.
When rats were given multiple options with saccharin and cinnamaldehyde, saccharin increased nicotine preference in females, but not in males.
Researchers suggested that sweeteners play a greater role in nicotine preference for females, while flavours are more influential for males.
They also found menthol flavouring increases oral nicotine intake in male rats, but not in female rats.
“The study examined the choice behaviours between sweetened and flavoured solutions, said the paper’s lead author,” Deniz Bagdas.
“Females rats showed the highest preference for nicotine when combined with sweeteners, while males showed highest nicotine preference when combined with cinnamon. Understanding the role of sweeteners and flavourings in oral nicotine product appeal can inform regulatory policies and harm reduction strategies.”
Although less harmful than smoking tobacco products, nicotine is still addictive.
In a research report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Nida), it explains that it increases levels of dopamine in the brain’s reward circuits, which motivates users to keep taking it.
Once the body becomes dependent on nicotine, going without it can cause “irritability, craving, depression, anxiety, cognitive and attention deficits”, the report says.
