Does Swedish Tobacco Have the Right Snuff?

The article reports that North Carolina-based giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is hoping to sell snus, which is the Swedish word for "snuff." The snus is used by a million adults in Sweden. The snus is different from the regular fermented chewing tobacco in the sense that it is pasteurized, refrigerated for freshness and packed in disposable tea-bag-like pouches. Reynolds's Camel-branded version, which is called simply Snus, hit test-market shelves in Portland, Oregon, and Austin in June 2006. The arrival of snus may be helpful in reversing the fortunes of U.S. tobacco companies as the cigarette sales in the United States have been declining 2 to 3 percent annually. According to Kenneth Warner, Dean, University of Michigan School of Public Health, about 20 percent of Swedish males use this product daily.