Broad range of flavours have been shown to increase appeal and attract young consumers; flavour and marketing restrictions could help reduce use among youth in Pakistan
As global sales for oral nicotine pouches continue to increase, new research in Pakistan reveals a broad array of chemically-engineered menthol, fruit, and other flavour combinations used to maximize appeal. This work provides policymakers with potential targets that could help reduce use and improve the health of Pakistanis throughout the country.
The analysis, which focused on Velo’s line of products sold in Karachi, was conducted by researchers from the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Portland State University, and published in the peer-reviewed journal Tobacco Control.
“Existing research across all tobacco and nicotine products shows that flavours can drive consumer interest and lead young people to try these products for the first time,” said Kevin Welding, PhD, associate director of IGTC and a co-author of the study. “The use of such a wide variety of levels and combinations of flavours raises concerns about expanding the nicotine market to young people.”
Oral nicotine pouches are small pouches filled with powdered nicotine that can be placed in the mouth, between the gum and upper lip, where the nicotine can be readily absorbed into the bloodstream.
The most popular brands globally are primarily manufactured by multinational tobacco corporations including Velo (British-American Tobacco, BAT), On! (Altria), and ZYN (Swedish Match). Nicotine pouches commonly include a variety of flavour chemicals, filler material, other possible additives, and also have a range of nicotine strengths.
Regulation of flavoured nicotine and tobacco products—and nicotine pouches in general—varies widely across the world. In Pakistan, the sale, marketing, and promotion of nicotine pouches is largely unregulated, and flavoured nicotine and tobacco products (including pouches) are not restricted.
For this study, researchers procured 10 brand variants of Velo oral nicotine pouches in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2022. Data collectors recorded the purchase price and photographed each package. The pouches were chemically analysed for nicotine and 180 individual flavour chemicals.
The analyses found measurable levels of flavour chemicals across all brand variants, and detected benzyl alcohol (cherry flavour), menthol, α-terpineol (cardamom flavour), and carvone (a mint flavour) in all ten products. There was a wide variation in the levels of fruit, menthol, and non-menthol/mint flavour chemicals across products, suggesting that producing a spectrum of flavour chemical levels and combinations is a central component of marketing brand variants.
“To help improve the health of Pakistanis, we need to shrink the markets for nicotine products — even while the tobacco industry devises new ways to expand these markets,” said Syed Ali Wasif Naqvi from the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. “Flavour chemicals offer a target for policies that can be applied broadly and fairly, and we should consider how the regulation of flavours and ingredients in tobacco and nicotine products can help safeguard everyone’s health.”
BAT reported selling 8.3 billion nicotine pouches globally in 2024, twice what was sold in 2022. Researchers have found Velo marketing and sales to be prevalent in low- and middle-income countries such as those in South Asia, where these products are sold with little to no regulation.
In Pakistan, according to Euromonitor, “Volume sales of nicotine pouches are substantial ,” with Velo commanding the largest brand market share of smokeless tobacco (including nicotine pouches), e-cigarette, and heated tobacco products in 2023, at 52.4% (an increase of more than double from 2021, at 25.6%). According to BAT, Pakistan was its third largest market for Velo in the world.
“These findings align with previous IGTC studies in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, where flavour chemical engineering was shown to support broader tobacco marketing strategies,” Dr. Welding added. “While policies addressing nicotine pouches have found traction in some European and Central Asian countries, Pakistan and the Southeast and South Asian markets have remained fertile ground for these products. Regulating both flavour chemicals and nicotine levels in oral nicotine pouches are powerful policy options to prevent widespread addiction to yet another harmful tobacco industry product.”
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