"How British American Tobacco lobbied Kenya to water down nicotine pouch warnings"

Exclusive: tobacco giant said it would pull investment from a Nairobi factory if its request for smaller health labels was not met, leaked documents show

The Kenyan government weakened health warnings on nicotine pouches after British American Tobacco said it would pull investment from a new factory in the country’s capital, an investigation has revealed.

Letters between British American Tobacco (BAT) and the Ministry of Health show the government yielded to the tobacco giant’s demand to sell Velo – one of the biggest-selling nicotine pouch brands globally – with significantly smaller health warnings and without mentioning potentially cancer-causing toxicants present in the products.

The letters are among documents shared with the Guardian and Africa Uncensored, and obtained by the investigative news outlet the Examination, which reveal the industry’s influence over policy in the east African country.

Existing tobacco regulations in Kenya stipulate that such labels must cover a third of the package and include information about the health hazards of the product. BAT lobbied to reduce the size of the warning, the letters show. The Ministry of Health agreed that Velo could be sold with a small warning saying: “This product contains nicotine and is addictive.”[...]

In a statement, a BAT spokesperson said the product’s labelling provides “important safety information” and that the language clearly states that all nicotine pouches are for adults only and should “never be used by those who are underage”.

“Like many other companies, we contribute to the public debate on issues that are important to our consumers, in particular tobacco harm reduction,” the spokesperson said. [...]

A hit among gen Z

BAT says Velo pouches are targeted only at adult smokers or nicotine users, but experts argue that the products are popular among young Kenyans. This is despite smoking rates being low in that age group.

As data on Velo sales is not made publicly available either by BAT or the Kenyan government, the number of customers, including of young people buying the product, is unknown.

Preliminary data from an unpublished survey by Cyprian Mostert, an assistant professor of global health economics at Aga Khan University’s Brain and Mind Institute in Nairobi, indicates that the nicotine pouches are used mainly by gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012). [...]

In a statement, BAT told the Examination that it works with retailers “to educate them on minimum age laws and conduct spot checks to ensure minimum age information notices are in place”. [...]