Technology advancement is reshaping the tobacco industry, especially the advent of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), which has changed how people smoke or enjoy nicotine.
Upon mentioning ENDS, e-cigarettes should be the most widely known choice for the general public. E-cigarettes have attracted worldwide attention since they emerged in the early 2000s and transformed many traditional smokers.
While e-cigarettes have led the market of newer tobacco substitutes, a new type of electronic heating device – heat-not-burn (HNB) device has become increasingly popular in recent years and is a new challenger of e-cigarettes.
As the next-generation invention of the ENDS range, heat-not-burn devices enable users to maintain smoking habits or routines in a new and less harmful way.
Let’s dive into this modern HNB technology and see how it creates a new way of smoking.
The concept behind HNB devices
Traditional cigarettes are known to be the main cause of various health conditions, such as lung cancer, throat cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), heart disease, stroke, and so on.
This is because traditional cigarettes will release a lot of toxic compounds and carcinogens when they are ignited and burned. That is to say, the biggest danger of traditional cigarettes comes from the burning of tobacco.
Some of the toxic chemicals produced in the burning process of regular cigarettes are known to include carbon monoxide, arsenic, acrolein, acetaldehyde, butadiene, benzene, formaldehyde, etc.,
It is these dangerous by-products of combustion that lead to smoking-related diseases.
Heat-not-burn products, on the other hand, do not involve the burning process. A heat-not -burn device is a battery-powered handheld device that warms up compressed tobacco leaves or tea leaves, or other natural herbs to generate aerosol for users to inhale.
Although HNB heating devices vary in styles or forms across brands, they usually have integrated or external electronic heating control systems to prevent raw materials from burning, thus keeping the heating temperature far below the level required for combustion. Usually, the heating temperature of heat-not-burn products does not go above 350°C.
Since there is no burning or combustion, heat-not-burn products can reduce the level of toxins related to cigarette smoke and its residues. Therefore, HNB products are considered less risky alternatives to conventional smoking.
Heated tobacco sticks: offers the same smoking effect without cigarette smoke
The heat-not-burn technology was first applied to tobacco, which is known as heated tobacco sticks, tobacco heating sticks, or heat-not-burn tobacco products.
As the name implies, heated tobacco sticks are based on real tobacco, just like regular cigarettes.
The essential difference between heated tobacco sticks and regular cigarettes, as mentioned above, lies in their working principle.
Heated tobacco sticks are heated or baked without burning to produce a nicotine-filled aerosol containing fewer toxins related to tobacco burning, making it a healthier choice than cigarette smoking.
But despite the different working science, heated tobacco sticks retain most characteristics of regular cigarettes. These products are similar to ordinary cigarettes in appearance, taste, nicotine satisfaction, smoking ritual, and feeling so that they can provide the same satisfaction and effect as regular cigarettes. That can help smokers make a natural transition.
In a word, heated tobacco sticks are closest to regular cigarettes compared with other tobacco substitutes, such as e-cigarettes and oral nicotine products, which don’t come close to the feeling or experience of smoking regular cigarettes.
But keep in mind that while heated tobacco sticks can reduce the toxins related to tobacco burning, they still use real tobacco. Tobacco itself has some disadvantages.
For example, it contains nicotine, a highly addictive substance that makes people smoke often. This means that heated tobacco sticks can be as addictive as regular cigarettes.
Additionally, tobacco may have toxic heavy metals and radioactive substances that are accumulated during its planting, which can contribute to the risks of developing some serious health conditions when they enter the body.
To address these problems, manufacturers in this industry have taken a step forward to develop non-tobacco heated sticks to complement heat- not-burn range.
Non-tobacco heated sticks: provide a heated tobacco experience minus the tobacco
Non-tobacco heated sticks are promoted as heated tobacco alternatives or heat-not-burn alternatives because they resemble heated tobacco products in almost every aspect except for the ingredients.
Instead of using real tobacco as the main base, non-tobacco heated sticks take tea or natural herbs as the main ingredients and are mixed with a range of flavorings.
Like heated tobacco sticks, non-tobacco heated sticks provide users with smoking-like effects and feelings, but compared with heated tobacco sticks, these products are more palatable because they are not limited to using one type of plant.
More importantly, as non-tobacco heated sticks don’t contain real tobacco, they will not produce lingering odor related to tobacco-based products, making them fresher.
A few popular brands of non-tobacco heated sticks include NEAFS, Genmist, Ccobato, CIGOO, Unicco, etc. Neafs, for example, is a pioneer in the field of tobacco-free heat-not-burn range, which is the first brand to develop non-tobacco heated sticks.
Rather than using real tobacco, Neafs use a special tea blend as the base and add mint, vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, and edible essence.
Neafs offers six flavors, including original, blueberry, menthol, coffee, mojito, and strawberry. The original flavor is the classic Virginia tobacco flavor, which provides authentic tobacco taste minus tobacco and is best suited for those who are used to the real tobacco experience.
All in all, Neaf provides a heated tobacco experience without tobacco and its unpleasant smell, making it an innovative substitute for regular cigarettes and heated tobacco sticks.
In summary
Smoking has always been the subject of intense debate because its health risks cause millions of deaths every year. Current trends in the tobacco industry aim at reducing the risk of diseases caused by smoking or providing new and lower-risk alternatives to smoking.
What sets heat-not-burn products from other smoking alternatives is that these products can reduce the health risks brought by traditional cigarettes by eliminating the burning process on the one hand and retain smoking-like habits by emulating traditional cigarettes on the other hand, which helps smokers achieve a smooth transition.
