Pouch for tobacco or tobacco substitute

Abstract

A smokeless tobacco product adapted for oral administration includes a permeable pouch adapted for administration into a user's mouth and adapted to be removed from the mouth and disposed in nature and smokeless tobacco contained in the pouch. The pouch is made from a degradable polymer whose degradation properties allow the pouch to be essentially intact until the time of disposal and allow the pouch to degrade in nature after disposal.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates generally to smokeless tobacco products, and in particular to a degradable polymer container for smokeless tobacco.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Smokeless tobacco in the form of so-called snuff, i.e. tobacco adapted for oral administration, is gaining increased popularity, not least as a substitute for cigarettes, cigars and other more conventional tobacco products. Although not harmless such smokeless tobacco products pose a lesser threat to a user's health than, for example, smoking, and can therefore be regarded as an acceptable substitute for smoking.[0003]A popular way of administrating snuff is to contain the snuff in a permeable pouch. Such a pouch holds the tobacco in place, while at the same time letting the flavours and substances of the tobacco pass through the walls of the pouch and into the user's mouth, to thereby be absorbed by the mucous membranes. When the flavours and active substances are consumed, the user remo...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]Consequently, there is still a need for an improved degradable smokeless tobacco container which obviates, or at least reduces, the aforementioned environmental and also medical problems that non-degradable tobacco containers present.

Problems solved by technology

Due to lack of suitable public bins, or due to the users' indifference and indolence, the used tobacco pouches frequently end up in public places, such as streets, at golf courses and other sports grounds, at entrances to public buildings and shops, and so forth.

Being small and relatively flat objects, the tobacco pouches can not easily be picked up and disposed.

Conversely, for a person having a high sense of environmental responsibility, the lack of suitable facilities for disposing a used tobacco pouch may lead to the user keeping the tobacco pouch in his / her mouth longer than he / she actually would like to, thereby exposing himself / herself to an unnecessary large dose of potentially harmful agents.