Non-Tobacco Chew

With the increase of smoking bans, across the US and the rest of the world, people are looking for an alternative to classic cigarettes and different varieties of smokeless tobacco such as snus and snuff are increasing in popularity. Something else that has become more and more popular is different forms of tobacco free nicotine products. Herbal smokeless tobacco covers any product that is like a smokeless tobacco product (chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, snuff, snus and so on) but does not contain actual tobacco. Instead it usually contains a mix of herbs. One of those products is non-tobacco chew.

 

Traditional chewing tobacco is a part of American history and is one of the oldest ways of consuming tobacco. It has always been popular in the South and still the main users are males in the American Southeast.

 

What is Non-Tobacco Chew?

Non-Tobacco Chew is a tobacco free version of the more commonly known chewing tobacco. Traditional chewing tobacco is used by placing a portion of the tobacco between the cheek and gum or upper lip and teeth and then chewing. It’s not ground, like snus or snuff or dripping tobacco, but must be chewed to release flavor and nicotine. The juices are then spat.

 

As more and more people want to have alternatives to the traditional tobacco products, the non-tobacco chew is becoming increasingly popular. It is used in much the same way as chewing tobacco, but instead of being made out of tobacco leaves it is created from a variety of edible green leaves with added food-safe ingredients and pharmaceutical-grade nicotine.

 

The non-tobacco chew products do not contain tobacco leaves or tobacco stems. This, however, does not mean that they do not contain nicotine. It is important to understand that non-tobacco chew products are still targeted at an adult market and they are simply an alternative, not a reduced risk product or a guarantee for smoking cessation.

 

Nicotine can be extracted from the Nicotania (tobacco) plant but these days it can also be made synthetically. This sort of nicotine is manufactured in the lab using chemicals. Synthetically manufactured nicotine usually has less odor or taste which makes it easier to add flavor or taste to.

 

Tobaccoless chew can be found under a variety of name. Sometimes it’s called non-tobacco chew, tobacco-free dip, tobaccoless chew, herbal chew, herbal dip or fake chew but they are all very similar. The development of non-tobacco chew has seen a wide variety of flavors and types being created.

Non-Tobacco Chew pouches

As the popularity of tobaccoless chew grew, some users started to request a pouch-version of the traditional chewing product. The use of it is very similar to the traditional tobaccoless chew but slightly more discrete, similar to the traditional snus which is also available loose or in pouches (read more here).

 

Some people prefer to use non-tobacco chew pouches to the loose version because it is not as obvious and slightly easier to use.

Most popular brands

There are a number of brands to choose between when it comes to non-tobacco chew products, but Black Buffalo is considered to be one of the leading brands in the US. Though the company is founded in Chicago the business went via North Carolina to Tennessee where the business took off. Another popular brand is Fully Loaded which is also American based but ships all over the world. Most of the available tobaccoless chew products can be bought online.

 

There are a number of herbal brands, some which contain nicotine but no tobacco or some that contain neither. For example Fully Loaded offers three different kinds of strengths – full, half and zero nicotine strength.

 

The one thing that most non-tobacco chew brands have in common is that they have been dissatisfied with the earlier non-tobacco chew products that have been available. They have wanted to create something closer to the traditional chew, both in flavor and texture. Many of them now claim to have a product which is as close to the “real deal” as possible.

 

 

If you have any questions regarding non-tobacco chew and health, the best thing to do is to consult your doctor for any health related advice.