The not always correct practices of the industry over the last decades fuelled the fear of end consumers of chemicals used in the production of tobacco and other goods. So, we seem to have a great fear of any additive that preserves, sweetens or softens a natural product. But, can natural products have the same "quality characteristics" as other, industrially manufactured products that have been laced with additives?
How powerful is this trend? Does it also play a role for those making their own cigarettes using a full automatic electric cigarette injector?
In terms of organic and sustainability, it is no longer possible to speak of a marginal phenomenon. 85% of Europeans are familiar with the term "organic product", 51% are consumers of this type of product, even if only sporadically, 15% consume organic products regularly and over 5% are steady consumers, i.e. they consume this type of product on a daily basis.
According to market studies, more than 25% of Europeans consume organic products at least once a week. Whether we are talking about mass consumption products such as organic fresh vegetables, organic meat, sustainably caught fish, products without preservatives or colourings and beer, or just tobacco without added flavours or aromas, this is a challenge for the processing industry.
How is the industry responding to customer demand?
Nowadays there is a real search for the natural and unadulterated. The difficulty for all manufacturers now is that the natural products demanded by consumers, without additives or preservatives, are also produced in an environmentally friendly way and packaged sustainably. At the same time, they have to meet our tastes and be practical to store for a sufficient period of time either on the shelf or in the fridge. With regard to tobacco, not only the taste but also the retention of the accustomed burning behaviour is very important. This poses particular technological challenges for the industry in the production of tobacco.
What impact does the current organic movement have on the world of tobacco and for those using an electric injector to produce their own cigarettes?
It is only in the 1990s and early 2000s that we find a preference for buying tobacco in bulk to roll your own cigarettes (after the overall spreading of industrial cigarettes). This gives the user again a sense of greater control over the contents of their cigarettes. Today, with the proliferation of electric cigarette injectors and even the domestic use of tobacco shredders, the market has been completely revolutionised.
In recent years, ready-made cigarettes as well as cut or roll-your-own tobacco have been put on the market, emphasising their naturalness and/or the absence of additives, while always referring to consistent quality. Not only in general do we find more and more organic products, but also in the world of tobacco, because consumers and producers are more conscious about it. It is obvious that some tobacco brands use the "organic" label as a bait to increase their brand differentiation and to get a higher selling price.
Today, in addition to the traditional brands, we can also find 100% natural tobacco products on the shelves of specialised shops to complete the range. There are products without additives, there are those that are natural and organic and also products that are 100% natural, organic and without additives. The use of natural tobacco is becoming more widespread in the community of users who make their own cigarettes with an electric cigarette machine.
100% natural tobacco
What is hidden behind this term? In today's advertising jungle, more and more definitions are used in such a way that they sometimes suggest something other than what is actually behind them.
Is there such a thing as 100% natural tobacco? Where can you buy it? If it has been mechanically or chemically processed in any way, is it still natural?
The dictionary defines the word "natural" as: Belonging to the nature of things, relating to them, or corresponding to the quality or property of things.
Tobacco is a nightshade plant, technically the plant is called Nicotinia tabacum. Tobacco therefore comes from a plant and is therefore a natural product. In other words, tobacco is produced by nature, either in the wild or in agricultural crops.
But the definition of "natural" says: without any artificiality or mixing or processing. And therefore we consider something that is one hundred percent natural to be something that has no artifice, no mixing, no mechanical or technological processing, and therefore no additives. Therefore, a 100% natural tobacco is only understood to be tobacco that has not undergone any "artificial" changes during its production. However, it is not clear that this does not contain any additional elements; it may still contain humectants, flavourings or aromas. Does this mean that only the tobacco leaves can be considered natural? If we take the term natural to the extreme, do we no longer consider, for example, expanded tobacco (volume tobacco) as natural?
Is it difficult to find natural tobacco?
Most of the tobacco consumed in Europe is natural. Dark tobaccos do not use any additional flavourings in their production, so in principle they can all be called "natural tobacco". Even the blond "Virginia" tobacco does not contain any flavouring additives.
The designation Natural 100% can be confusing.Therefore, there are quite a number of tobacco brands that include the claim "without additives" to reinforce the impression of complete naturalness in their qualification, even though the printing of "without additives" on the packaging of tobacco products is not permitted in many countries.
Additive-free tobacco
Most cigarette, cut and roll-your-own tobacco brands sold in Europe and enjoying wide acceptance use the so-called "American blend". This blend consists of a combination of different varieties of Virginia, Burley and Oriental tobaccos in varying proportions. Flavouring agents ("sauces") are added before the blend is made to maintain the tobacco's moisture and stretchiness, as well as aromas to distinguish the brands and give their blends a unique personality.
What does it mean, then, without additives?
When a tobacco brand says that its tobacco is natural and contains no additives, it means that nothing has been added to this tobacco blend. Although it is an American blend, no flavourings have been used, nor have any aromas been added to the final blend. In these cases, what the consumer is smoking is simply tobacco and water (in the form of moisture) wrapped in a cigarette tube.
Is it possible to get the authentic flavours of each brand without using additives?
The biggest challenge for an American natural tobacco blend without additives will be to achieve a flavour that is as close as possible to the typical American tobacco flavour. We have to take into account that it is the sauces and aromas that provide the typical taste. However, these cannot be used in the blend without additives because only tobacco and water are allowed. For this reason, the tobacco companies and their technicians - the blenders - do a lot of engineering work in searching for and blending leaves of different degrees of maturity and origin until they find the taste that comes closest to the original. A real challenge.
With blends of so-called "English tobacco", which consists of a 100% blend of the Virginia variety, there is no such problem, as it no longer contains any flavours to begin with.
Is natural tobacco less harmful to health?
Finally, it is important to mention that the belief that natural is synonymous with harmless, or not harmful to health, is bottles. It must therefore be stated quite clearly that tobacco in all its forms of presentation, whether with or without additives, is a product that is harmful to health. Therefore, so-called "natural" tobacco, no matter if you process it yourself with an automatic cigarette injection machine, can be just as harmful to health as those tobaccos that do not have this characteristic.