The latest product from the tobacco industry is a flavorful nicotine tablet that melts in your mouth, allowing users to get a buzz as discreetly as popping a mint — and amping up concerns that products to replace cigarettes are too appealing to kids and teens.

In the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Philip Morris International recently introduced Zyn Melts, mint-flavored tablets that provide a nicotine hit as quickly as smoking a cigarette. Japan Tobacco International launched a similar product called Perlz in the U.K. in May.

And in the U.S., Nic Nac Naturals, a nascent nicotine company based in Spokane, Washington, has been selling flavored lozenges called Nic Nac since 2022; they’re now available in about 3,000 stores nationwide.

Users tuck these tablets next to their gums, similar to how they use nicotine pouches. Like pouches, the new products come in colorful packaging and flavors such as mint and berry. But with tablets, there’s no wet sachet to discard. 

That makes them more appealing than pouches, said Erwin Henriquez, a global analyst for the marketing research firm Euromonitor. “It’s much more friendly to chew gum or a dissolving tablet than to put something in your gums,” he said. “You have vitamins and supplements that consumers are already used to.”

Public health advocates and researchers are concerned about nicotine tablets for a similar reason. Their resemblance to mints or lozenges “may make them appear harmless and more appealing to children and adolescents,” said Magnus Lundbäck, a cardiologist, nicotine researcher and professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

Tobacco companies have introduced e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches as less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. Tobacco-related diseases are the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, responsible for 7 million deaths a year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which influences tobacco policy worldwide, has authorized these products because they’re less harmful than cigarettes and could help smokers quit. 

But nicotine is tied to health problems even when it’s not inhaled through smoke, and the long-term health risks of these new products aren’t clear. Public health advocates say there’s little evidence that smokers are switching to pouches and heated tobacco entirely. More often, they say, people use those products in addition to cigarettes. 

“The tobacco and nicotine industry is continuously developing new products that may attract new generations of users, rather than reducing nicotine dependence,” Lundbäck said. “The ultimate public health goal must be fewer people addicted to nicotine, not simply more ways to consume it.”

An easy way to get nicotine ‘on the go’

Henriquez, the Euromonitor analyst, said dissolvable tablets are a “natural evolution” of nicotine pouches and serve consumers’ growing appetite for stimulants as they “feel stress all the time.” 

Nicotine pouch sales reached $9.2 billion globally in 2025, according to Euromonitor. The volume of pouches sold has grown 50% annually for the past five years and is expected to continue at 20.5% a year, according to a July report by Henriquez.

On its U.K. site, Philip Morris International tells consumers that Zyn Melts “offer a completely new way for adult users to enjoy tobacco-free and smoke-free nicotine moments on the go.” It compares tablets to pouches, saying tablets are for a “fast nicotine experience” while pouches have a “longer lasting nicotine and flavor experience.”

Japan Tobacco sells Perlz through Flavour Warehouse, a U.K. vaping company it controls. Its website states, “First came vapes. Then pouches. Now there’s Perlz – the ingenious new nicotine experience for existing adult nicotine users.” 

Tablets contain less nicotine than most pouches, with Zyn Melts and Perlz available in 1 and 2 milligram doses. 

Nic Nac lozenges are available in 3 and 6 mg doses. Nic Nac Naturals co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Nicco Magnotto said the lozenges are different from Zyn Melts and Perlz because they release nicotine over about 30 minutes, more like a pouch.

The most popular nicotine pouches, in comparison, range from 3 to 17 mg. Philip Morris International recently introduced a 1.5 mg pouch for users “new to nicotine pouches.” 

‘Kids aren’t even aware of us’

Public health officials have been engaged in a yearslong balancing act with new nicotine products, weighing the potential benefits to adults looking for less harmful alternatives to cigarettes against the potential for youth to abuse or accidentally ingest nicotine.

Vapes exploded in popularity in 2018, causing the FDA to declare teen use an epidemic. Then nicotine pouches caught on, with surveys showing increased use among teens over the past few years. The industry, however, says the percentage of youth using pouches remains low.

Meanwhile, poison control centers in the U.S. reported that calls involving nicotine poisoning, many involving pouches, nearly doubled from 2024 to 2025. Three-quarters of cases last year involved children under the age of 6. 

Nicotine tablets represent a new area of concern.

The industry says it’s not looking to sell to kids. In an email, a Japan Tobacco spokesperson said the company does not “design, market or promote Perlz to appeal” to minors and that the containers are child-resistant, requiring three buttons to be pressed simultaneously to be opened. 

"We take steps to ensure that our advertising is directed towards adult tobacco and nicotine users only and does not have particular appeal to minors," the spokesperson said.

Magnotto said his company does not advertise or market Nic Nac to youth and that the company’s research indicates they don’t find lozenges appealing. “It comes across as medicinal,” he said. “Pouches are the rage. Kids aren’t even aware of us.” 

Asked about the potential for abuse by kids, Magnotto said his company’s container has a scientifically-tested, child-resistent seal and will soon have a more secure mechanism. 

Philip Morris International did not respond to a request for comment. The company says on its U.K. website that Melts are meant for adults.

United Kingdom serves as a test market

The U.K. doesn’t require regulatory approval for nicotine products, making it an ideal test market. The tablets were introduced shortly before regulations imposed by the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 became effective in October. That law imposes stricter rules on tobacco and nicotine products, including prohibitions on giveaways and big discounts.

Philip Morris International is looking beyond the U.K. and Switzerland. It has filed for trademark protections for Zyn Melts in the U.S. and Europe, both as a consumer nicotine product and a pharmaceutical aid to stop smoking. 

The trademarks are among many the company has registered this year for Zyn, including “House of Zyn” and “Zyn Club” — signs that the company is positioning Zyn as a lifestyle brand. 

Nicotine tablets have been available in the U.S. for years as smoking cessation aids, which requires a special FDA approval as a pharmaceutical product. The agency would need to do a separate review in order to authorize the sale of tablets to consumers.

Nic Nac Naturals submitted an application in 2023 to sell its nine mint and fruit-flavored tablets to the general public in the U.S. 

Mitch Zeller, former director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said nicotine tablets “could possibly be helpful” to smokers looking for alternatives in a “properly regulated market.” 

First, he said, the product needs to undergo a complete scientific review, with studies showing how different users respond to it. He noted that a new FDA rule allows nicotine products to be sold while their application is pending, which means Zyn Melts and Perlz could be on shelves without any research on their appeal to adolescents. 

That’s not how it should work, he said. “All of the intended and unintended consequences of something like this need to be sorted out on a pre-market basis.”