What is Heated Tobacco?

Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen many alternative options to cigarettes. The world is looking for something new to let people enjoy tobacco and smoking without adverse effects. 

Heated tobacco is another product you can use as an alternative, and some might even say that it’s one of the best options. You’ve probably heard about some heated tobacco products but don’t entirely understand how they work and their effects. NEAFS is even a little bit more unique, but more on that later.

We’ve decided to give you a short guide on these products and help you understand why they are better than regular cigarettes. 

What is heated tobacco? 

As the term suggests, heated tobacco is all about the process of heating. There is no burning of tobacco, meaning there is no smoke. Heated tobacco products or HTPs heat tobacco at a far lower temperature than typical cigarettes.

There’ve been several attempts to push these products on the market, but HTPs gained public attention in 2016 when IQOS launched in Japan. Today, several heated tobacco brands sell their products worldwide. 

There are currently several heated tobacco products in different markets, but NEAFS offers an interesting alternative. HTPs have gained momentum in almost 40 countries worldwide, and they are becoming more prominent daily. 

There’s a lot of confusion around heated tobacco, and people often mistake these products for vapes and e-cigarettes. 

How does it work?

Heated tobacco products create solid-state vapor by heating tobacco to 350°C, around 250°C lower than typical cigarettes. The device uses a specialized heating system powered by a battery to raise the temperature to the desired level.

You can add the heated tobacco separately into an enclosed device with a heating system or use it with specifically designed cigarettes for heating tobacco. Some HTPs have a sealed chamber that aerosolizes nicotine from tobacco leaves. 

Whichever the case, the heating device is hand-held, and you must charge it before use. You put the mouthpiece in your mouth, draw at separate intervals, and inhale the aerosol. The tobacco you use can come in different forms, including capsules, plugs, and sticks. 

On the other hand, some devices heat a liquid, creating emissions that go through a tobacco plug, absorbing nicotine and flavour, and guiding them into the mouthpiece. These different types of tobacco are designed explicitly for their designated devices.

That means tobacco products are usually suitable only for devices from the same brand. Users need to learn everything about the type of device they are buying and the tobacco products the device is compatible with to ensure they get what they need. 

Differences between heated and regular tobacco

Cigarettes and regular tobacco 

To explain how these two are different, let’s start with the basics.

First of all, cigarettes contain typical tobacco wrapped in paper. You have to light it up to achieve burning temperatures and then you are able to smoke the tobacco.

When lit, a burning cigarette is around 600°C, but the temperature can go over 800°C when puffing. The main issue with this kind of tobacco use is the burning effect, leading to many adverse effects. 

Tobacco’s burning action releases many harmful chemicals, apart from the smoke you inhale into your lungs. The extra chemicals that get released are the primary cause of different side effects, not nicotine. 

Heated tobacco 

HTPs simply heat tobacco, and there’s no burning involved. That is the crucial difference between the two. The tobacco itself isn’t much different, and you only fit it into the device in one form or another to use it effectively. 

However, this one crucial difference affects many other things. First of all, heated tobacco doesn’t generate smoke when used, meaning that the aerosols have fewer harmful chemicals and lower concentrations. 

Furthermore, cigarettes have added chemicals, metals, plastics, and flavour elements that tobacco doesn’t have. Heated tobacco is a pure tobacco leaf that lets users taste the plant to the fullest. 

Heated tobacco products

At the moment, there aren’t that many government studies on HTPs and their effects. However, several studies financed by the industry show how HTPs reduce exposure and formation of harmful constituents compared to cigarettes. 

That also means that the effects of second-hand exposure are significantly less potent. However, no studies currently prove the correlation between these effects and the reduced adverse effects on users. 

More independent studies are necessary to make some concrete conclusions. Tobacco as a substance is toxic, which means that heated options also have adverse effects.

However, the industry is pushing these brand-new products as “safer” alternatives that will allow people to have a smoking experience with fewer consequences or even use HTPs to quit smoking. 

Since these products are still new, the classifications can get complicated. Many heated tobacco devices work differently and have different designs. They heat tobacco to different temperatures. Some use dry tobacco, others use moist tobacco, and some have liquid tobacco. The main thing to remember is that all use a heating system. 

NEAFS alternative to heated tobacco products

The NEAFS product line provides smokers with a similar experience to many heated tobacco products on the market but foundationally, it’s quite different than HTPs. Why? Because NEAFS sticks use a proprietary blend of plant-based ingredients rather than tobacco. It still uses similar technology that leads to the “sticks” being heated, not burnt, like what you would find with most HTPs though.

At NEAFS, we offer sticks with different flavours, and both our nicotine and non-nicotine products have unique blends of natural botanicals.

They are the first potentially good option for quitting smoking using heated products. Transitioning to NEAFS sticks might be the difference that helps you make that final step towards kicking the habit. 

We offer the TEÓ heating device that supports all of our sticks, but you can also use it with heated tobacco sticks from other brands. Here are some of the different stick flavours we offer: 

• Coffee;
• Mojito;
• Strawberry;
• Menthol;
• Blueberry;
• NEAFS original.

Conclusion 

Before using any HTP or similar products, keep in mind that no tobacco product is entirely safe. Using non-combustion devices might be safer than cigarettes, but it’s far from healthy. Before making a final decision, consider nicotine and/or tobacco-free alternatives that provide the same experience with the potential of reduced downsides.