PACKAGING MATERIAL AND AN ORAL POUCHED NICOTINE PRODUCT

Abstract

The present invention relates to a packaging material for use in an oral pouched nicotine product in order to enclose a filling material. The filling material comprises a particulate non-tobacco material and a nicotine source. The packaging material is a saliva-permeable nonwoven material comprising carded fibres. 50%-100% of the carded fibres are cellulose-based staple fibres, and 0%-50% of the carded fibres are thermoplastic fibres, with % numbers being based on the total weight of carded fibres at 21 C. and 50% RH. The packaging material further comprises a binder. The cellulose-based staple fibres have a linear density less than 1.7 decitex, and the packaging material have a basis weight above 30 g/m.sup.2. The present invention also relates to an oral pouched nicotine product comprising such a packaging material.

Claims

1. A packaging material for use in an oral pouched nicotine product in order to enclose a filling material, said filling material comprising a particulate non-tobacco material and a nicotine source, said packaging material being a saliva-permeable nonwoven material comprising carded fibres, wherein: 50%-100% of said carded fibres are cellulose-based staple fibres, 0%-50% of said carded fibres are thermoplastic fibres, with % numbers being based on total weight of carded fibres at 21 C. and 50% RH, said packaging material further comprises a binder, said binder constituting 20%-60% of a total weight of said packaging material, said cellulose-based staple fibres have a linear density less than 1.7 decitex, and said packaging material has a basis weight above 30 g/m2.

2. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein 55%-99% of said carded fibres are cellulose-based staple fibres.

3. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein 1%-45% of said carded fibres are thermoplastic fibres.

4. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said carded fibres consist of said cellulose-based staple fibres and said thermoplastic fibres.

5. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said packaging material consists of said cellulose-based staple fibres, said thermoplastic fibres and said binder.

6. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said basis weight of said packaging material is 32 g/m2.

7. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said cellulose-based staple fibres are natural cellulose fibres or man-made cellulose-based fibres.

8. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said cellulose-based staple fibres have a linear density of 1.5 decitex.

9. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said cellulose-based staple fibres have a length within the range of 30-80 mm.

10. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said thermoplastic fibres are one or more of PP, PLA, PET, PP/PE, or PLA/co-PLA.

11. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said thermoplastic fibres have a length within the range of 30-80 mm.

12. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said thermoplastic fibres have a linear density of 4.4 decitex.

13. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said thermoplastic fibres have a melting point within the range of 110-260 C.

14. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said binder constitutes 25%-55% of a total weight of said packaging material.

15. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said packaging material has a dry seal strength of at least 0.2 N/mm when said seal is made by ultrasonic welding.

16. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said packaging material has an air permeability of 4000 l/m2/s.

17. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said packaging material has a median pore size of 300 m2.

18. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein said packaging material has a powder leakage of 400 mg.

19. An oral pouched nicotine product, said product comprising a filling material and a saliva-permeable pouch, said filling material comprising a particulate non-tobacco material and a nicotine source, said pouch enclosing said portion, said pouch comprising a packaging material of claim 1, wherein said packaging material is sealed with at least one seal to enclose said portion, and wherein said binder constitutes 20%-60% of a total weight of said packaging material.

20. The oral pouched nicotine product according to claim 19, wherein said thermoplastic fibres are at least partially melted.

21. The oral pouched nicotine product according to claim 19, wherein said oral pouched nicotine product has a powder leakage of 100 mg.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0092] The present invention will hereinafter be further explained by means of non-limiting examples with reference to the appended figures wherein:

[0093] FIG. 1 shows a packaging material according to the invention with 0% PP,

[0094] FIG. 2 shows a packaging material according to the invention with 15% of the total weight of the packaging material being polypropylene,

[0095] FIG. 3 shows a packaging material according to the invention with 25% of the total weight of the packaging material being polypropylene, and

[0096] FIG. 4 shows a reference packaging material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0097] The invention will, in the following, be exemplified by embodiments. It should however be realized that the embodiments are included in order to explain principles of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention, defined by the appended claims. Details from two or more of the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0098] In order to characterize the packaging materials according to the invention, a number of measurements have been made comparing packaging materials according to the invention with a commonly used packaging material for oral pouched snuff products, denoted Reference. The Reference material comprises a binder, but no thermoplastic fibres. The Reference material is a packaging material commonly used for commercial snuff products. 100% of the fibres are viscose fibres having a linear density of 1.7 decitex. It has a basis weight of 29 g/m.sup.2. The sample also comprises 40 wt % binder. This sample is denoted Reference in the tables below.

[0099] Measurements have also been made for oral pouched nicotine products according to the invention comprising the tested packaging materials. The oral pouched nicotine products comprise a portion of a filling material and a saliva-permeable pouch, which encloses the portion and comprises or consists of the packaging material as described herein. The filling material comprises a particulate non-tobacco material and a nicotine source and was the same for all products tested. The filling material was the one used for the commercially available product ZYN Citrus Mini dry, sold by Swedish Match. The ingredients are: fillers (E965, E460, E414), acidity regulators (E 500), stabilizers (E 463), nicotine bitartrate, flavourings, sweeteners (E 950).

[0100] FIG. 1 is a microscope photo of a first packaging material according to the invention. It has a basis weight of 38 g/m.sup.2. 100% of the fibres are cellulose-based staple fibres, namely viscose fibres having a linear density of 0.9 decitex. This %-number as well as the other fibre %-numbers given herein are given as weight percentages. This sample is denoted 0% PP in the tables below. The sample also comprises 40 wt % binder with wt % being taken in relation to the total weight of the packaging material. The line at the lower right-hand corner of the photo is 1000 m long. Hence the photo shows an area of about 4.5 mm3.4 mm. Corresponding lines of 1000 m are seen in the other photos of FIGS. 2-4.

[0101] FIG. 2 is a microscope photo of a second packaging material according to the invention. It has a basis weight of 38 g/m.sup.2. 75 wt % of the fibres are cellulose-based staple fibres of the same type as in FIG. 1 and 25 wt % are thermoplastic fibres, namely polypropylene, abbreviated PP, having a linear density of 1.7 decitex. The sample also comprises 40 wt % binder. Hence the viscose fibres make up 45% of the total weight and the thermoplastic fibres make up 15% of the total weight of the packaging material. This sample is denoted 15% PP in the tables below.

[0102] FIG. 3 is a microscope photo of a third packaging material according to the invention. It has a basis weight of 38 g/m.sup.2. 58% of the fibres are cellulose-based staple fibres of the same type as in FIGS. 1 and 2, 42% are thermoplastic fibres of the same type as in FIG. 2. The sample also comprises 40 wt % binder. Hence the viscose fibres make up 35% of the total weight and the thermoplastic fibres make up 25% of the total weight of the packaging material. This sample is denoted 25% PP in the tables below.

[0103] FIG. 4 is a microscope photo of the Reference material, which is described above.

[0104] As can be seen in the microscope photos, the packaging materials according to the invention are denser than the Reference material and have much smaller pores. Of the three packaging materials according to the invention shown in the photos, the third material seen in FIG. 3 has the largest pores, which coincides with that it has the lowest percentage of the 0.9 denier viscose fibres and thus the highest percentage of the 1.7 denier PP fibres.

Seal StrengthLab Seal

[0105] Seal strength was measured for the three different packaging materials according to the invention, shown in FIGS. 1-3, see Table 1 below, and compared to the Reference, shown in FIG. 4, see the top line of Table 1. Samples were prepared in the way described in par. [0136] of EP 3 192 380 A1. The seal strengths were measured according to the CORESTA method described above. Measurements were performed for seals made with ultrasonic welding. Stdv in the tables below stands for standard deviation.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Material Seal strength (N/mm) Stdv Reference 0.16 0.03 0% PP 0.30 0.04 15% PP 0.35 0.03 25% PP 0.44 0.04

[0106] The packaging materials according to the invention have a dry seal strength, assuming the seal being made by ultrasonic welding, of at least 0.2 N/mm, preferably at least 0.25 N/mm, more preferably at least 0.3 N/mm, most preferably at least 0.35 N/mm, which is much higher than for the Reference material. The highest value is obtained for the 25% PP sample, which has the highest percentage of thermoplastic fibres.

Air Permeability

[0107] Air permeability was measured for the same packaging materials, see method above and Table 2 below.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Material Air permeability (l/m.sup.2/s) Stdv Reference 4500 195 0% PP 1828 63 15% PP 2822 237 25% PP 2800 89

[0108] The packaging materials according to the invention have an air permeability 4000 l/m.sup.2/s, preferably 3500 l/m.sup.2/s, more preferably 3000 l/m.sup.2/s, which is less than that of the Reference material. The sample with 0% PP has the lowest value, which coincide with that this sample has the fibres with the lowest linear density of the fibres.

Pore Size

[0109] Pore size was measured for the same packaging materials, see method above and Table 3 below.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Material Median pore size (m.sup.2) Stdv Reference 326 30.3 0% PP 60 16.5 15% PP 77 21.5 25% PP 136 17.5

[0110] The packaging materials according to the invention have a median pore size 300 m.sup.2, preferably 250 m.sup.2, more preferably 200 m.sup.2, most preferably 150 m.sup.2, which is less than that of the Reference material. The sample with 0% PP has the lowest value, which coincide with that this sample has the fibres with the lowest mean value for linear density of the fibres.

Leakage of Powder Through Packaging Material

[0111] The leakage of a powder through the packaging materials was evaluated by sieving, see method above and Table 4 below. The % numbers are in relation to the 40 g of powder used for the measurement. The last column show the values recalculated to weight.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Material Leakage (%) Stdv Leakage (mg) Reference 10 3 4000 0% PP 0.2 0 80 15% PP 0.04 0 16 25% PP 0.01 0 4

[0112] The packaging materials according to the invention have a much smaller leakage through the packaging material than for the Reference material. They have a powder leakage of 400 mg, preferably 200 mg, more preferably 100 mg, most preferably 50 mg or even 20 mg through the packaging material.

Leakage of Powder from Pouches

[0113] The leakage of powder from pouches was evaluated by the method described above. The weight of the product is about 400 mg. Hence, there are about 365 mg of powder. See Table 5 below.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Material Leakage (mg) Stdv Reference 210 49 0% PP 6 1 15% PP 0 0 25% PP 0 0

[0114] The packaging materials according to the invention have a powder leakage 100 mg, preferably 50 mg, more preferably 25 mg, most preferably 10 mg or 2 mg from the pouch according to the method described herein. The 0% PP samples, having the highest value, has a leakage of 6 mg, which is very much less than the leakage from pouches made with the Reference material.

[0115] For this parameter, it was also made a series of sample packaging materials according to the invention having a range of different basis weights: 30, 34 and 38 g/m.sup.2. The weight of the product is about 400 mg. This was made for the material with 15% PP, with % PP as seen in relation to the total weight of the packaging material, i.e. with 40 wt % binder. See results in Table 6 below. All samples have a powder leakage being very much less than pouches made with the Reference material, even if it is seen that there is a higher leakage for the smallest basis weights 30 and 34 g/m.sup.2 than for 38 g/m.sup.2.

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Material Leakage (mg) Stdv (mg) 15% PP, 30 g/m.sup.2 12 2 15% PP, 34 g/m.sup.2 2 1 15% PP, 38 g/m.sup.2 0 0

[0116] As an example of an oral pouched snuff product, an oral pouched nicotine product comprises a filling material and a saliva-permeable pouch of a packaging material enclosing the filling material, the filling material comprising: [0117] a particulate non-tobacco material, [0118] a nicotine source, [0119] water in an amount within the range of from 1 wt % to 45 wt % based on the total weight of the filling material, and [0120] a pH adjusting agent, e.g. comprising Na.sub.2CO.sub.3, K.sub.2CO.sub.3, NaHCO.sub.3 and/or KHCO.sub.3.

[0121] The oral pouched nicotine product may be free from tobacco, i.e. an oral pouched nicotine non-tobacco product.

[0122] Alternatively, the oral pouched nicotine product may comprise a low amount of tobacco material thereby providing an oral pouched low tobacco nicotine product. The amount of tobacco material of the oral pouched low tobacco nicotine product may be within the range of from about 0.1% to about 10% by weight such as from about 0.1% to about 5% by weight, such as from about 0.1 wt % to about 1 wt %, based on the total weight of the filling material. The presence of this small amount of tobacco will not impact the pH of the product to be substantially different from that exhibited by the oral pouched tobacco free products described herein.

[0123] The tobacco material may be provided in a form as described herein.

[0124] Further, the tobacco material may be a purified tobacco material, such as a bleached tobacco material or a tobacco extract.

[0125] The tobacco material described herein may comprise one, two or more particulate non-tobacco materials.

[0126] The amount of water of the filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described herein may be present in an amount within the range of from about 0.5 wt % to about 12 wt % such as from about 0.5 wt % to about 5 wt %, such as about 3 wt %, based on the total weight of the filling material. When the amount of water is within the range of from about 0.5 wt % to about 12 wt % or from about 0.5 wt % to about 3 wt % as described herein, the oral pouched nicotine product may be considered dry, i.e. a dry oral pouched nicotine product.

[0127] Alternatively, the water content of the filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described herein may be within the range of from about 20 wt % to about 50 wt %, such as from 20 wt % to 45 wt %, based on the total weight of the filling material. When the amount of water is within the range of from about 20 wt % to about 45 wt % as described herein the oral pouched nicotine product may be considered moist, i.e. a moist oral pouched nicotine product.

[0128] The filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described herein may comprise particulate non-tobacco material within the range of from about 30 wt % to about 90 wt %, such as from about 30 wt % to about 85 wt %, such as from about 30 wt % to about 80 wt %, such as from about 60 wt % to about 90 wt %, based on the total weight of the filling material.

[0129] The particulate non-tobacco material may be water-insoluble, water-soluble or a combination thereof.

[0130] The particulate non-tobacco material may comprise or consist of a sugar alcohol such as maltitol, and/or of cellulose such as microcrystalline cellulose and/or powdered cellulose. For instance, the particulate non-tobacco material may comprise maltitol and/or microcrystalline cellulose.

[0131] Additionally or alternatively, the filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described herein may comprise one or more water-insoluble fibres selected from the group consisting of maize fibres, oat fibres, tomato fibres, barley fibres, rye fibres, sugar beet fibres, buck wheat fibres, wheat fibres, pea fibres, potato fibres, apple fibres, cocoa fibres, bamboo fibres, citrus fibres, and any combination thereof. In an example, the water-insoluble fibres may form part of the non-tobacco particulate material.

[0132] The filling material may comprise one, two or more nicotine sources.

[0133] The filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product as described herein may comprise within the range of from about 1.0% to about 10% by weight of the nicotine source, based on the total weight of the filling material.

[0134] The nicotine source may be a nicotine salt and/or nicotine base. The nicotine source such as nicotine base may be bound to an ion exchange resin, such as polacrilex, e.g. via a salt bridge. Alternatively or additionally, the ion exchange resin may function as a solid support for the nicotine source such as nicotine base.

[0135] Nicotine base, such as in the form of an oily liquid, may be synthetically produced or extracted from tobacco.

[0136] The nicotine source may be a nicotine salt such as a nicotine salt selected from the group consisting of nicotine hydrochloride, nicotine dihydrochloride, nicotine monotartrate, nicotine bitartrate, nicotine bitartrate dihydrate, nicotine sulphate, nicotine zinc chloride monohydrate and nicotine salicylate, and any combination thereof.

[0137] In particular, the filling material may comprise nicotine bitartrate and/or nicotine bitartrate dihydrate.

[0138] The amount of nicotine source such as nicotine salt and/or nicotine base per pouched product may be within the range from about 0.1 mg to about 20 mg of nicotine calculated as nicotine base, such as about 0.5 mg, about 1.0 mg, about 1.5 mg, about 2.0 mg, about 2.5 mg, about 3.0 mg, about 3.5 mg, about 4.0 mg, about 4.5 mg, about 5.0 mg, about 6.0 mg, about 7.0 mg, about 8.0 mg, about 9.0 mg, about 10 mg, about 12 mg, about 14 mg, about 16 mg, about 18 mg, or about 20 mg of nicotine.

[0139] The nicotine salt of the filling material in the oral pouched nicotine product as disclosed herein may be a nicotine salt present in solid form and/or dissolved form.

[0140] The nicotine source as disclosed herein may be adsorbed or non-adsorbed onto the particulate non-tobacco material as disclosed herein. It will be appreciated that the expression adsorbed onto means that the nicotine source adheres to an outer surface of the non-tobacco particulate material. When the nicotine source is adsorbed onto the non-tobacco particulate material it adheres to the outer surface of said non-tobacco particulate material without substantially penetrating into any void(s) of said non-tobacco particulate material.

[0141] Alternatively or additionally, the nicotine source as disclosed herein may be absorbed into and/or adsorbed onto the tobacco material described herein.

[0142] The filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described herein may further comprise a flavouring agent. The filling material may comprise one, two or more flavouring agents. For example the flavouring agent may be a non-encapsulated agent. Additionally or alternatively, the flavouring agent may be encapsulated. The non-encapsulated flavouring agent and the encapsulated flavouring agent may be the same or different. As used herein, an encapsulated flavouring agent is a flavouring agent contained within a capsule. Accordingly, a non-encapsulated flavouring agent is not contained within a capsule.

[0143] The flavouring agent of the filling material in the oral pouched nicotine product as disclosed herein may be a hydrophobic flavouring agent.

[0144] The flavouring agent of the filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described herein may be an oil, a liquid, a lyophilized material, a spray-dried material, or a mixture thereof. In an example, the flavouring agent(s) is/are an oil and/or a liquid.

[0145] The filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described herein may comprise within the range of from about 0.5% to about 3% by weight of the flavouring agent, based on the total weight of the filling material.

[0146] The filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described may comprise a humectant such as polypropylene glycol.

[0147] In the oral pouched nicotine product as described herein, the particulate non-tobacco material, the nicotine source, the water, the pH adjusting agent, optionally the tobacco material, optionally the flavouring agent and optionally the humectant may be homogeneously mixed.

[0148] WO 2012/134380 discloses a pouch containing nicotine in free salt form, i.e. an oral pouched nicotine-containing non-tobacco snuff product. The product comprises a powder of at least one free nicotine salt, at least one pH adjusting agent and at least one filler, and a water insoluble pouch, wherein said pouch is permeable for saliva and therein dissolved parts of the powder. Such a powder is suitable to be used as a filling material in the product described herein.

[0149] The oral pouched nicotine product as disclosed herein is intended for use in the oral cavity, such as by buccal placement (e.g. by placing the pouched product between the upper or lower gum and the lip or cheek), and may therefore be referred to as portion-packed (pouched) product for oral use. The oral pouched nicotine product is sized and configured to fit comfortably and discreetly in a user's mouth between the upper or lower gum and the lip or cheek.

[0150] The oral pouched nicotine product as disclosed herein may have an oblong shape, such as a substantially rectangular shape (as seen from above when the product is placed on a planar surface). In such case, the longitudinal direction of the product corresponds to the length of the substantially rectangular product and the transverse direction of the product corresponds to the width of the substantially rectangular product.

[0151] The total weight of the oral pouched nicotine product (including filling material and packaging material) may be within the range of from about 0.3 to about 1.5 g.

[0152] The filling material of the oral pouched nicotine product described herein may be provided as a powder or granulate. Thus, the filling material enclosed by the saliva-permeable pouch of the packaging material may be provided in a non-compressed form.

[0153] The oral pouched (i.e. portion-packed) nicotine products may be positioned randomly in a container or in a pattern, for instance as described in WO 2012/069505. Alternatively or additionally, each oral pouched nicotine product may be placed in a sachet.