METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A FILLING MATERIAL FOR A POUCHED SMOKELESS SNUS PRODUCT AND FILLING MATERIAL MANUFACTURED THEREFROM

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method of manufacturing a filling material for a pouched smokeless snus product, the method comprising the steps of: a) coating non-tobacco plant material with nicotine; b) mixing the coated non-tobacco plant material with further ingredients and optionally tobacco material to form the filling material; and c) optionally subjecting the filling material to a pasteurization step; as well as to products of such method.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a filling material for a pouched smokeless snus product, the method comprising the steps of: a) coating non-tobacco plant material with nicotine using a liquid solution comprising nicotine; b) mixing the coated non-tobacco plant material with further ingredients and optionally tobacco material to form the filling material; c) optionally subjecting the filling material to a pasteurization step; and d) optionally mixing the product of step b) or c) with further ingredients.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the steps of: a) coating non-tobacco plant material with nicotine using a liquid nicotine-in-glycerol solution; b) mixing the coated non-tobacco plant material with water and salt, preferably the salt is NaCI, and optionally uncoated non-tobacco plant material and/or tobacco material to form the filling material; c) optionally subjecting the filling material to a pasteurization step; and d) optionally mixing the product of step b) or c) with further ingredients, preferably the further ingredients comprise or consist of NH.sub.4CI, Na.sub.2CO.sub.3, propylene glycol, optionally one or more flavours and/or combinations thereof.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step a) the non-tobacco plant material is coated with nicotine using a solution comprising nicotine and glycerol, preferably using a nicotine-in-glycerol solution, wherein the nicotine is present in a concentration of 2 to 20 weight-%, preferably of 5 to 15 weight-%, more preferably of 10 weight-%, based on the total weight of the nicotine-in-glycerol solution.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the non-tobacco plant material is coated with nicotine using a spray coating process or a drum coating process.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the non-tobacco plant material comprises or consists of fibres or particles from non-tobacco plants, preferably, the non-tobacco material comprises or consists of wheat fibres, oat fibres, potato fibres, bamboo fibres, buckwheat fibres, barley fibres, microcrystalline cellulose and/or combinations thereof.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step b) tobacco material is mixed in to form a filling material comprising tobacco material in a concentration of 0 to 15 weight-%, preferably in a concentration of 0.1 to 10 weight-%, more preferably in a concentration of 2 to 8 weight-%, wherein indications in weight-% are based on the dry weight of the total filling material.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco material is bleached, preferably the tobacco material is bleached by heat treatment and/or by use of whiteners or bleaching agents.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the filling material comprises a water content of 30 to 50 weight-% based on the total weight of the filling material.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the filling material comprises coated non-tobacco plant material of step a) in a concentration of 70 to 99 weight-%, wherein the indications in weight-% are based on the dry weight of the total filling material.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the nicotine-coated non-tobacco plant material of step a) has a nicotine content within the range of 0.1 to 10 weight-%, preferably of 1 to 5 weight-%, more preferably of 2.5 to 4.5 weight-%, wherein the indications in weight-% are based on the dry weight of the nicotine-coated non-tobacco plant material.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the further ingredients of the filling material of step b) and/or d) comprise water, non-tobacco plant material not coated with nicotine, stabilizers, humectants, plasticisers, thickeners, dyes, salts, flavours, gum base, flavour additives or any combination thereof, preferably comprise water, NaCI, NH.sub.4CI, Na.sub.2CO.sub.3, propylene glycol, optionally one or more flavours and/or combinations thereof.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the further step: e) portioning the filing material into individual portions and packaging individual portions into separate pouches.

13. A filling material for use in a pouched smokeless snus product, the filling material being manufactured by a method according to claim 1.

14. The filling material of claim 13, wherein the filling material comprises or consists of: 70 to 99 weight-% nicotine-coated non-tobacco plant material; 0 to 15 weight-% tobacco material, preferably bleached tobacco material; and 0 to 30 weight-% further ingredients; wherein above mentioned indications in weight-% are based on dry weight of the total filling material; wherein the nicotine-coated non-tobacco plant material has a nicotine content within the range of 0.1 to 10 weight-% based on the dry weight of the nicotine-coated non-tobacco plant material; and wherein the filling material has a water content of 30 to 50 weight-% based on the total weight of the filling material.

15. A pouched smokeless snus product comprising a filling material of claim 13.

Description

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Preparation of Nicotine-Coated Non-Tobacco Plant Material

[0037] In this Example, the non-tobacco plant material is coated with nicotine using a liquid nicotine-in-glycerol solution, wherein the nicotine-in-glycerol solution is sprayed on the non-tobacco plant material in a fluidized bed process. Alternatively, the non-tobacco plant material can be coated with nicotine using a liquid nicotine-in-glycerol solution in a drum coating process.

a) 600 g wheat fibres (WF 200 provided as VITACEL by J. Rettenmaier & Shne GmbH & Co KG, DE) are spray coated with 350 g nicotine-in-glycerol solution (10 weight-% nicotine in glycerol, provided by Siegfried Ltd, CH) in a fluidized bed process.

[0038] The desired amount of nicotine-in-glycerol solution was successfully coated onto the wheat fibres to give a product of approx. 910 g of nicotine-coated wheat fibres with a nicotine content of approx. 3.8 weight-% based on the total weight of the nicotine-coated wheat fibres.

b) 600 g wheat fibres (WF 200 provided as VITACEL by J. Rettenmaier & Shne GmbH & Co KG, DE) are spray coated with 264 g nicotine-in-glycerol solution (10 weight-% nicotine in glycerol, provided by Siegfried Ltd, CH) in a fluidized bed process.

[0039] The desired amount of nicotine-in-glycerol solution was successfully coated onto the wheat fibres to give a product of approx. 870 g of nicotine-coated wheat fibres with a nicotine content of approx. 3.0 weight-% based on the total weight of the nicotine-coated wheat fibres.

c) 600 g wheat fibres (WF 200 provided as VITACEL by J. Rettenmaier & Shne GmbH & Co KG, DE) are spray coated with 450 g nicotine-in-glycerol solution (10 weight-% nicotine in glycerol, provided by Siegfried Ltd, CH) in a fluidized bed process.

[0040] The desired amount of nicotine-in-glycerol solution was successfully coated onto the wheat fibres to give a product of approx. 1043 g of nicotine-coated wheat fibres with a nicotine content of approx. 4.3 weight-% based on the total weight of the nicotine-coated wheat fibres.

Example 2: Formation of Filling Material for Use in a Pouched Smokeless Snus Product

[0041] Basically, the method of the invention is based on mixing nicotine-coated non-tobacco plant material with further ingredients and optionally tobacco material in order to form a filling material suitable for use in a pouched smokeless snus product. The method can be performed in various ways, e.g. with or without a pasteurization step.

a) Method without a pasteurization step

[0042] An exemplary method for producing a batch of a filling material for use in a pouched smokeless snus product comprises the step of mixing the following ingredients:

TABLE-US-00003 135 kg nicotine-coated wheat fibres of Example 1 a), b) or c); 6.5 kg tobacco material, preferably whitened or bleached tobacco material, e.g. tobacco material whitened by washing with hot water; 78 kg water; 10.4 kg NaCl; 12.06 kg ammonium chloride (20%); 1.18 kg sodium carbonate; 5.6 kg propylene glycol; and optionally flavour.

[0043] All ingredients are added in a single vessel and mixed. The resulting filling material may be partitioned and packaged into pouched smokeless snus products.

b) Method with a pasteurization step

[0044] An exemplary method for producing a batch of a filling material for use in a pouched smokeless snus product comprises the step of mixing the following ingredients:

TABLE-US-00004 135 kg nicotine-coated wheat fibres of Example 1 a), b) or c); 6.5 kg tobacco material, preferably whitened or bleached tobacco material, e.g. tobacco material whitened by washing with hot water; 78 kg water; and 10.4 kg NaCl.

[0045] The mixture is subjected to a pasteurization step. Said pasteurization step is similar to the pasteurization step used in the preparation of classical smokeless tobacco snus according to standard processes.

[0046] The pasteurized mixture is further subjected with the following further ingredients:

TABLE-US-00005 12.06 kg ammonium chloride (20%); 1.18 kg sodium carbonate; 5.6 kg propylene glycol; and optionally flavour.

[0047] All ingredients are added in a single vessel and mixed. The resulting filling material may be partitioned and packaged into pouched smokeless snus products.

Example 3: Formation of Tobacco-Free Filling Material for Use in a Pouched Smokeless Snus Product

[0048] Basically, the method of the invention is based on mixing nicotine-coated non-tobacco plant material with further ingredients in order to form a tobacco-free filling material suitable for use in a pouched smokeless snus product. The method can be performed in various ways, e.g. with or without a pasteurization step.

a) Method without a pasteurization step

[0049] An exemplary method for producing a batch of a filling material for use in a pouched smokeless snus product comprises the step of mixing the following ingredients:

TABLE-US-00006 135 kg nicotine-coated wheat fibres of Example 1 a), b) or c); 118 kg water; 13.75 kg NaCl; 5.98 kg ammonium chloride (20%); 2.3 kg sodium carbonate; 12.34 kg propylene glycol; and optionally flavour.

[0050] All ingredients are added in a single vessel and mixed. The resulting filling material may be partitioned and packaged into pouched smokeless snus products.

b) Method with a pasteurization step

[0051] An exemplary method for producing a batch of a tobacco-free filling material for use in a pouched smokeless snus product comprises the step of mixing the following ingredients:

TABLE-US-00007 135 kg nicotine-coated wheat fibres of Example 1 a), b) or c); 118 kg water; and 13.75 kg NaCl.

[0052] The mixture is subjected to a pasteurization step. Said pasteurization step is similar to the pasteurization step used in the preparation of classical smokeless tobacco snus according to standard technology.

[0053] The pasteurized mixture is further subjected with the following further ingredients:

TABLE-US-00008 5.98 kg ammonium chloride (20%); 2.3 kg sodium carbonate; 12.34 kg propylene glycol; and optionally flavour.

[0054] All ingredients are added in a single vessel and mixed. The resulting filling material may be partitioned and packaged into pouched smokeless snus products.