page_title: Snus
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: Snus / Types
caption_attribution_description: English: Comparison of snus portion types. Left is "regular" or "original" portion. Right is "white" portion. "White portion" can be any color, the name refers to the style, not the color.
context_page_description: Snus is a moist powder smokeless tobacco product originating from a variant of dry snuff in early 18th-century Sweden. It is placed inside the lip for extended periods. Snus is not fermented. Although used similarly to American dipping tobacco, snus does not typically result in the need for spitting and, unlike naswar, snus is steam-pasteurized.
  Sale of snus is illegal in all the European Union countries except for Sweden. It is also the most common form of tobacco in Norway. Canada makes it difficult to obtain Snus through discouraging its users by implementing high taxes on products like snus. Some EU countries like Estonia allow the sale of snus-like products that contain nicotine but no tobacco. Local varieties of snus, growing in popularity in the United States, have been seen as an alternative to smoking, vaping, e-smoking, chewing, dipping, dissolvable and snuff tobacco. However, US-manufactured snus does not have the same production standards or ingredients as Swedish snus, and typically uses significant amounts of sweeteners.
  Snus usually contains nicotine, which is highly addictive.
context_section_description: Many types of snus are available:
  Loose snus is a moist powder which can be portioned and packed into a cylindrical or spherical shape with the fingertips or a purpose-made cylindrical device. The end result is often referred to as a pris (pinch), buga, prilla, or prell (slang).  Some users (usually long-time users) simply pinch the tobacco and place it under their upper lip (farmer's pinch or living snus). Over time, the demand for loose snus has been replaced by portioned varieties.  Many users of snus today prefer the discrete nature of the latter variety.
  Portion snus is packaged moist powder in small teabag-like sachets. It comes in smaller quantities than the loose powder, but is considered more convenient and discreet than loose snus. The two varieties of portion snus are:
  Original portion, introduced in 1973, is the traditional form. The sachet material is moisturized during the manufacturing process, resulting in a brown, moist pouch.
  White portion is a milder-tasting and slightly slower-release form. The sachet material is not moisturized during the manufacturing process, resulting in a white, dry pouch. The tobacco within the portion material has the same moisture content as original portion snus, but the nicotine and flavor are somewhat slower in delivery due to the drier sachet. "White portion" refers to the style, not the color, as many white portion snus use a black material instead of white, yet are "white portion".  Examples include General Onyx and Grovsnus Svart (Black) and Blue Ocean (Blue).
  Sting-free portion is a patent-approved  snus pouch, introducing a protective side, that reduces the stinging sensation and irritation to the snus users gum and oral mucous membrane. The sting-free snus portion was awarded "Most exciting newcomer to the industry" at the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum in New York City 2017.
  Portioned snus is available in three different sizes: mini, normal/large (most common) and maxi. The weights may vary, but the labelling on most packages of snus disclose their net weight. Mini portions typically weigh close to 0.5 g, normal (large) portions weigh around .8 to 1 gram, and maxi portions weigh up to 1.7 g, depending on brand. Some brands also offer the choice of "regular" and "long" versions of the normal size sachet, which are similar in content weight. These long portions differ from traditional sachets in that they are slimmer but longer, in order to fit against the gums more comfortably.
  The nicotine content of snus varies among brands, with the most common strength being 8 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco. In recent years, snus manufacturers have released stark (strong or sterk) and extra stark (extra strong or extra sterk) varieties with greater nicotine content. Stark varieties contain, on average, 11 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco, while extra stark varieties may contain up to 22 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco. Recently, the Siberia brand released its "Extremely Strong" snus which boasts 45 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco and is currently the highest nicotine-per-gram snus available.
caption: Left is an original (or "regular") portion. Right is a "white portion". White portions can be any color, as the name refers to the style, not the color.
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