Retailers warn: "Half of all snus varieties will be banned"

One in two cans of snus could disappear from shops. That will be the result if the government inquiry's proposal on nicotine limits for snus becomes reality. Sweden's largest retailer of snus and nicotine pouches is now warning of the consequences.
"It will be much more difficult for smokers to quit smoking. At the same time, youth use is unlikely to decrease at all" says Markus Lindblad, Snusbolaget.

The government inquiry entitled "A safe childhood without nicotine, alcohol and nitrous oxide" proposes a cap on nicotine concentration in both traditional snus and nicotine pouches. According to the report, the limit should be 12 mg/gram. When Snusbolaget, Sweden's largest retailer of both snus and nicotine pouches, sorted out the variants that did not meet this requirement, it was clear what the consequences would be.

"If the proposal goes through, it will mean that more than half of the snus varieties demanded by customers will disappear. This is a huge blow to snus users and especially those who are trying to quit cigarettes through snus" says Markus Lindblad, Head of Communications, Snus company, to Vejpkollen.

Smokers choose stronger snus - not young people

According to Markus Lindblad, the investigator has not taken into account how consumers use snus in reality. The snus company regularly collects information from its customers. Lindblad therefore sees clear patterns in consumer behavior and can follow their purchases further back than five years.

"Smokers who switch to snus usually start with a stronger variant, often some berry flavor. Over time, they move to weaker snus and less extreme flavors. That's what we see in our statistics. Younger users, on the other hand, choose weaker snus from the start." says Markus Lindblad to Vejpkollen.

"I don't understand how people think"

Because of this, a nicotine level of 12 mg/ml would not affect young consumers to any great extent, he says, but it would affect older people, who need a higher nicotine strength to succeed in their attempts to quit smoking.

"The investigator seems to have missed all this. Three out of four snus users will no longer be able to buy the snus they want. Even though the intention of the investigation was good and we probably need limits on nicotine levels in the products, I don't understand how they are thinking here." says Markus Lindblad.

What would you like the regulation to look like?
"In this situation, it is probably best to ignore the nicotine limit altogether. It needs to be investigated better than this. I know that several people in the industry have suggested a higher limit, between 15 and 20 mg/mg. That would have saved at least 90% of the range. 

"Important that smokers can find the right products"

Several politicians, including those who want to promote snus in relation to cigarettes, have wanted to see regulation of nicotine strength. This has primarily concerned white snus, where the nicotine is added during production. But Markus Lindblad does not believe that this was the outcome envisaged before the inquiry.

"If we want smoking to continue to decline in Sweden, we should not make snus more inaccessible. It is important that smokers can find the variant that suits them. Restricting the nicotine strength of products that actually help them quit smoking is really not good. We saw this when the nicotine strength of e-liquid cigarettes was restricted in the EU, where the nicotine strengths are high enough to addict young people but not high enough to attract all smokers to less harmful alternatives. We need to think about this more carefully," says Markus Lindblad.

"Must dare to question the investigation"

He is now calling on consumers to protest. And politicians to act.

"It is unfortunate that the report ends up so wrong, when the intention was so good. Tobacco smoking is one of the main risk factors and the availability of health-promoting products must therefore increase. The government has previously emphasized the importance of harm reduction and encouraged price differences between cigarettes and alternative nicotine products. We must now dare to question the investigator's unfounded conclusions. Otherwise, we risk losing the world's proven best anti-smoking strategy." says Markus Lindblad.

How do the nicotine limits affect you?

Snusbolaget har publicerat en lista över de snussorter som försvinner om nikotingränsen på 12 mg/gram blir verklighet – något som den statliga utredningen förslår ska ske 2026:

Snus company list: should your favorite snus be banned?