From Lars-Erik Rutqvist, Scientific Adviser, Swedish Match, Stockholm, Sweden
You report smoking rates for men in their 30s in Sweden plunging to 5 per cent. As you say, this is likely linked to 18 per cent of Swedish men using snus as a smoking substitute. But is snus safe?
The World Health Organization says that it is “considerably less hazardous” than smoking. The EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks says the relative health advantages are “undeniable”. In the longer online version of the article you quote a Cancer Research UK official singling out pancreatic cancer as a concern. Swedish men have the lowest rate of pancreatic cancer in the EU. Swedish Match is happy to provide public health bodies with independent scientific evidence.
