What are Zyn nicotine pouches and are they safe?

The Food and Drug Administration is allowing the company Zyn to advertise some of its nicotine pouches as safer in some ways than smoking cigarettes.

Nicotine pouches are as their name suggests: small, thin, rectangular packets that contain nicotine powder and often include flavors such as Zyn’s cinnamon, citrus and cool mint. They’re designed to be inserted between the lip and gum for up to an hour, allowing nicotine to be absorbed into the user’s bloodstream.

After what the FDA described as an “extensive scientific review,” the agency said on June 30 that Zyn could advertise 20 of its nicotine pouches by saying, “Using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.”

The new form of advertising “doesn’t change the fact that these products deliver an addictive dose of nicotine,” said Aaron Hunt, a Utah State University Health and Wellness extension specialist.

The FDA’s decision doesn’t mean nicotine pouches are without risk, experts said. It also doesn’t mean Zyn pouches are an FDA-approved effective way to stop smoking.

“Yes, it is safer than smoking cigarettes, but if you do not smoke cigarettes and are not using it as a cessation tool, it is best to not use these products,” Hunt said.

Nicotine addiction is biggest risk, and long-term effects are unknown

The stimulant nicotine is addictive. It activates the central nervous and cardiovascular systems, sometimes leading to increased alertness or wakefulness. The drug is naturally found in tobacco plants but can also be made in laboratories.

Experts warn that the biggest risk for people who use nicotine pouches is becoming dependent.

“Nicotine addiction is a serious problem,” and it can develop quickly, said Dr. Pamela Ling, director of the University of California San Francisco’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. “Nicotine exposure increases the number of nicotine receptors in the brain, so over time people begin to need nicotine just to feel normal and avoid withdrawal.”

Withdrawal symptoms can include increased irritability, sadness and anxiety; difficulty concentrating; insomnia; increased appetite; headaches and nausea. In 2020, about 8.5% of people age 12 and older in the U.S. reported nicotine dependence in the past 30 days, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Nicotine pouches first became available in the U.S. in 2014. There is limited research about their long-term health effects.

Researchers, for example, don’t have enough evidence to say whether nicotine pouches can cause oral cancer. But they have seen the pouches can cause inflammation and mouth tissue damage, Carter Bruett, a University of Utah dentistry professor told University of Utah Health.

Some studies of smokeless and oral nicotine tobacco products have found that the products pose cardiovascular risks, albeit lower than those associated with cigarette use.

“Oral and cardiovascular effects are biologically plausible, but the direct evidence base is thin to date,” Hunt said. “We need more studies to determine the actual health impacts long term.”

Young people are especially vulnerable to nicotine addiction

Nuanced advertising claims about nicotine pouch health risks could muddy the waters for consumers — especially young people.

“Smokers might compare it to cigarettes, but young people who don’t smoke might also interpret this to mean the products are safe,” Ling said.

In other flavors like coffee, menthol and peppermint, Zyn is promoted on social media, sometimes by influencers, sold in convenience stores and gas stations. Advertising that promotes Zyn as less risky than cigarettes is likely to make it more appealing to younger people, Ling said.

One 2024 study found that when adolescents saw ads that said switching from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco products “reduces risk of lung cancer,” they perceived smokeless tobacco products as less harmful.

“Kids who were never smoking cigarettes in the first place are a growing share of pouch users,” Hunt said.

Young brains are still developing and younger people are especially at risk of developing a strong nicotine addiction, said Brittney Keller-Hamilton, an Ohio State University epidemiologist and medical oncology professor.

Nicotine addiction risk is higher the younger a person is when they start using tobacco or nicotine products.

When a young person’s brain is developing, neurons with nicotine receptors will be pruned away if the person isn’t using nicotine, Stanford Medicine reported. Using nicotine products before brain development is complete sends a signal to the body that it needs those neurons. It can also increase the feel-good chemical dopamine’s production, making adolescents more likely to become addicted.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that nicotine can harm brain development, particularly the parts that handle attention, learning, mood and impulse control.

In 2025, 1.7% of middle and high school students reported using nicotine pouches and about 90% of users reported using flavored pouches, according to the 2025 National Youth Tobacco Survey. That’s up slightly from 2022, when 1.1% of students reported using nicotine pouches.

Nicotine pouches are not a proven way to stop smoking

There’s some evidence that adult smokers are using nicotine pouches when they stop smoking or to cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke. Zyn has also marketed its products as a way to “get away from smoke.”

“From a harm reduction standpoint, that’s promising,” Johannes Thrul, a Johns Hopkins University substance use disorder researcher, said on the Public Health On Call podcast in April 2025. “Switching to a non-combustible product could reduce some of those risks if the switch is total.”

But he warned that many people don’t switch completely, which can maintain or worsen their  nicotine addictions.

Unlike FDA-approved smoking cessation therapies such as nicotine gum and patches, nicotine pouches haven’t been tested or approved as a way to quit smoking.

“To be effective, it’s very important to use nicotine replacement with counseling to support plans to quit,” Ling said. “Most smoking cessation plans include reducing nicotine exposure over time.”

Hunt and Ling said they don’t anticipate that Zyn will seek FDA approval for the nicotine pouches as a smoking cessation method. Doing so would require the products to be regulated as drugs and would require clinical trials showing they help people quit.

PolitiFact Staff Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

RELATED: When someone’s vaping nearby, what are you breathing in? The risks of vape pens’ secondhand aerosols