Sweden is the only EU country where selling snus is legal
Across the European Union, tobacco pouches tucked under the lip are banned from sale, with one exception written into Sweden's accession terms. There, about 1.1 million people use snus, a pasteurised tobacco that Swedish law has treated partly as a food since 1971, listing every ingredient on the tin.
Snus is ground tobacco mixed with water, salt, an alkaliser such as sodium carbonate and often flavourings, then heated under pressure. That heating step sets it apart from chewing tobacco and dip, which are cured or fermented. Steam pasteurisation holds back the bacteria that help form tobacco-specific nitrosamines, a family of carcinogens, so snus contains lower levels of them. Because it is not cured, it spoils quickly and is usually kept in the fridge, or frozen for storage of a year or more.
Users press a pinch of loose snus, called a prilla or pris, or a small teabag-like pouch under the upper lip for 30 to 120 minutes, with no spitting needed. Pre-portioned pouches arrived in 1973 and have steadily overtaken the loose form. A typical strength is 8 mg of nicotine per gram, while one extreme brand reaches 43 mg. In 2024, 22 percent of Swedish men and 10 percent of women aged 16 to 84 said they used it daily.
Research on cancer is not settled. Some studies find no added risk, while others suggest links to cancers of the mouth and throat. Sweden and other countries removed the causes cancer warning from packs because evidence shows the risk is much lower than for smoking, and in November 2024 the US Food and Drug Administration renewed modified-risk orders for several General Snus products. Nicotine itself is tied to cardiovascular strain and reproductive harms such as premature birth.
The language has shifted too. Swedes now call tobacco-free nicotine pouches white snus, and the original product brown snus; those pouches have become the most common form there. A European Commission report in 2021 found the EU ban was sometimes dodged by selling snus-like products as chewing tobacco, and in 2025 the World Health Organization listed smokeless tobacco and nicotine pouches among products needing minimum regulation.
Source: Snus
