Vapes are out, ZYNs nicotine pouches are in — and with them, a new black market for young people to sink their gums into. Earlier this year, the BBC reported an “alarming rise in strong illicit nicotine pouches” as Trading Standards teams in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Dorset made more than 1,500 seizures in the past year.
While nicotine pouches are still largely unregulated in terms of advertising, strength or age restrictions, they come under General Product Safety Regulations, meaning they need to be clearly labelled in English with safety guidelines. Many products with foreign labels are being sold in shops, some of which claim to contain as much as 150mg of nicotine.
