Philip Morris International has recently introduced ZYN Melts, dissolvable nicotine tablets that users place beside their gums, where they melt in the mouth. The mint-flavoured product is being sold in the United Kingdom and Switzerland, but its resemblance to sweets has prompted public health experts to warn that it could appeal to children as well as adult nicotine users.

Why ZYN Melts Have Raised Child-Safety Concerns

The UK launch follows a shift towards oral nicotine products that can be used without smoking or vaping. ZYN's UK marketing presents Melts as a fast nicotine option for adults, while describing pouches as providing a longer-lasting nicotine and flavour experience. ZYN Melts are not smoking-cessation medicines, and the longer-term health effects of newer nicotine formats remain unclear.

The tablets dissolve beside the gums and deliver nicotine. ZYN Melts are available in 1mg and 2mg strengths, as is Japan Tobacco International's similar Perlz product, launched in the UK in May. The most popular nicotine pouches typically contain between 3mg and 17mg of nicotine.

Magnus Lundbäck, a cardiologist and nicotine researcher at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet, warned that the resemblance to mints or lozenges may make the products seem harmless and more attractive to children and adolescents.

The tablets also remove one visible feature of nicotine pouches: the used sachet. Erwin Henriquez, a global analyst at Euromonitor, told The Examination that a dissolving tablet may feel more familiar than placing a pouch against the gum.

A nicotine product resembling a mint could be mistaken for an ordinary sweet by a child if left within reach. Accidental ingestion of nicotine products can cause poisoning.

Nicotine Poisoning Is Already a Child-Safety Issue

The US Food and Drug Administration warns that nicotine pouches can cause poisoning when children touch, chew or swallow them. Symptoms include vomiting, confusion and loss of consciousness. Reports of nicotine pouch exposure to US Poison Centres increased steadily between April 2022 and March 2025, with approximately 72 per cent of reported cases involving children under five.

The FDA has also warned companies about dissolvable products marketed as 'nicotine mints'. In 2023, it issued a warning letter to Nic Nac Naturals over unauthorised products resembling a pack of mints, citing the risk of severe nicotine toxicity if young children swallowed them.

That does not establish that ZYN Melts have caused similar incidents. It does show that regulators have identified mint-like nicotine products as a child-safety concern. The FDA describes dissolvable tobacco products as including lozenges, strips and sticks, some of which may look like hard sweets.

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Companies Say Their Products Are for Adults

The companies say their products are intended for adult nicotine users. Japan Tobacco International said it does not design, market or promote Perlz to appeal to minors, adding that its container requires three buttons to be pressed simultaneously to open. Philip Morris International describes ZYN Melts on its UK website as intended for adults.

In Britain, the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 introduced an under-18 sales ban for nicotine products from 29 October. Government guidance explicitly includes nicotine pouches, dissolvable strips and nicotine pearls among the products covered by the restrictions, alongside other non-medicinal nicotine products.

Lundbäck has argued that public health priorities should include reducing nicotine addiction, rather than expanding the ways it can be consumed.

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