A smokeless tobacco product includes smokeless tobacco and structural fibers. The structural fibers forming a network in which the smokeless tobacco is entangled. The structural fibers have a composition different from the smokeless tobacco. The tobacco-entangled fabric can have an overall oven volatiles content of at least 10 weight percent. In some embodiments, the structural fibers form a nonwoven network. In some embodiments, fibrous structures of the smokeless tobacco are entangled with the structural fibers.

Nicotine permeability through the mucous membrane depends on pH, with the uptake improving with higher pH. The invention provides stabilization of basic pH at the surface of the product during oral use thereof, without reducing nicotine mobility within the oral smokeless tobacco or nicotine-containing non-tobacco product. The invention in one aspect relates to an oral smokeless tobacco or nicotine-containing non-tobacco product comprising a composition enclosed by a wrapping material, wherein the wrapping material comprises a magnesium carbonate. In another aspect, the invention relates to an oral smokeless tobacco or nicotine-containing non-tobacco product comprising a composition enclosed by a wrapping material, and comprising a liner adjacent to the wrapping material, wherein the liner comprises magnesium carbonate in an amount of 0.1 to 10%, by total weight of the oral smokeless product.

Nicotine permeability through the mucous membrane depends on pH, with the uptake improving with higher pH. The invention provides stabilization of basic pH at the surface of the product during oral use thereof, without reducing nicotine mobility within the oral smokeless tobacco or nicotine-containing non-tobacco product. The invention in one aspect relates to an oral smokeless tobacco or nicotine-containing non-tobacco product comprising a composition enclosed by a wrapping material, wherein the wrapping material comprises a magnesium carbonate. In another aspect, the invention relates to an oral smokeless tobacco or nicotine-containing non-tobacco product comprising a composition enclosed by a wrapping material, and comprising a liner adjacent to the wrapping material, wherein the liner comprises magnesium carbonate in an amount of 0.1 to 10%, by total weight of the oral smokeless product.

Articles of manufacture, products, and packaging methods are provided that include collapsible container. Collapsible containers provided herein can define an open interior space with a peripheral side wall having a top edge and a bottom edge and a bottom wall attached to the bottom edge of the side wall. The bottom wall can include a displaceable portion in an expanded configuration that extends below the bottom edge of the side wall and adapted to being displaced to a collapsed configuration that extends above the bottom edge of the side wall. Product constituents (e.g., pouches of smokeless tobacco) can be placed in a collapsible container provided herein while the collapsible container is in its expanded configuration. After installing a lid onto a collapsible container to enclose the product within the collapsible container, the container can be collapsed to its collapsed configuration.

Articles of manufacture, products, and packaging methods are provided that include collapsible container. Collapsible containers provided herein can define an open interior space with a peripheral side wall having a top edge and a bottom edge and a bottom wall attached to the bottom edge of the side wall. The bottom wall can include a displaceable portion in an expanded configuration that extends below the bottom edge of the side wall and adapted to being displaced to a collapsed configuration that extends above the bottom edge of the side wall. Product constituents (e.g., pouches of smokeless tobacco) can be placed in a collapsible container provided herein while the collapsible container is in its expanded configuration. After installing a lid onto a collapsible container to enclose the product within the collapsible container, the container can be collapsed to its collapsed configuration.

The present invention is directed to a pouch (1) for tobacco comprising a first pocket, wherein at least a wall of the pouch is formed of a flexible sheet laminate (6) composed of at least a first and a second layer (61, 62), the pouch further comprising a slide-in pocket (4) formed within the flexible sheet laminate, wherein the slide-in pocket comprises a pocket front wall (42) formed of a part of the first layer (61) of the flexible sheet laminate, a pocket back wall (41) formed of a part of the second layer (62) of the flexible sheet laminate and a first opening (5) arranged in the first layer or the second layer of the flexible sheet laminate, the interior of the slide-in pocket being accessible via the first opening.

An apparatus for enrobing a product portion can include at least one polymer spray head adapted to create at least one flow of polymeric fibers to produce at least one polymer enrobing zone and a conveyor system adapted to move at least one product portion from at least one position below at least one polymer enrobing zone and to at least one position above at least one polymer enrobing zone to drop each product portion through one or more polymer enrobing zones a plurality times at different orientations to enrobe each product portion with polymeric fibers.

An apparatus for enrobing a product portion can include at least one polymer spray head adapted to create at least one flow of polymeric fibers to produce at least one polymer enrobing zone and a conveyor system adapted to move at least one product portion from at least one position below at least one polymer enrobing zone and to at least one position above at least one polymer enrobing zone to drop each product portion through one or more polymer enrobing zones a plurality times at different orientations to enrobe each product portion with polymeric fibers.

The present invention is directed to a pouch pack made up of a plurality of pouches where each pouch is a re-sealable container for preserving single or multiple cigars or single or multiple cigar tobacco leaves. A perforation allows the pouch pack to be separated into the individual pouches without damage to the pouches. A vent/seal allows the atmosphere in the pouch to be controlled. A form encases the cigar tobacco leaf in the pouch pack while allowing the cigar tobacco leaf to equilibrate with the atmosphere in the pouch which is controlled by one or more of a humectant, a vent/seal and a sensor to control the humidity in the pouch. In an embodiment of the invention, the form is one or more wrapped cigar tobacco leaves. A mold protects a cigar or a cigar tobacco leaf from damage by an external force exerted on the pouch or pouch pack.

The present invention is directed to a pouch pack made up of a plurality of pouches where each pouch is a re-sealable container for preserving single or multiple cigars or single or multiple cigar tobacco leaves. A perforation allows the pouch pack to be separated into the individual pouches without damage to the pouches. A vent/seal allows the atmosphere in the pouch to be controlled. A form encases the cigar tobacco leaf in the pouch pack while allowing the cigar tobacco leaf to equilibrate with the atmosphere in the pouch which is controlled by one or more of a humectant, a vent/seal and a sensor to control the humidity in the pouch. In an embodiment of the invention, the form is one or more wrapped cigar tobacco leaves. A mold protects a cigar or a cigar tobacco leaf from damage by an external force exerted on the pouch or pouch pack.