Health minister slams nicotine pouches, tobacco company alleges defamation
Global News
One of Canada's largest tobacco companies is responding to the Canadian health minister's recent comments around nicotine pouches.
One of Canada’s largest tobacco companies is alleging the federal health minister has defamed it.
On Thursday, Mark Holland slammed tobacco companies’ marketing of nicotine pouches, saying the companies evaded regulations “in a very Machiavellian way, a very dark way” to sell tobacco.
“It would seem that their intention is to addict new young people to nicotine, which is disgusting,” he said, mentioning the pouch flavours.
“Stop it. Stop targeting our kids, stop going after them with such a deadly product.”
Holland did not mention specific companies but Health Canada has only approved Imperial Tobacco Canada’s nicotine pouches.
In a statement released on Friday, Imperial Tobacco Canada called Holland “misinformed” and said nicotine pouches are a “new smoking cessation product.”
“Defaming a legal company about a product that was recently authorized for sale by his ministry is not worthy of a Canadian Health minister – even one whose background is as an anti-tobacco lobbyist,” the statement read. Holland was once the executive director of the Health and Stroke Foundation of Canada’s Ontario chapter.
Imperial Tobacco Canada’s parent company British American Tobacco made more than $15 million last year, according to its 2022 annual report.
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