ZYN Ingredients: What Is in Each Pouch

ZYN Ingredients: What Is in Each Pouch

ZYN lists six categories of ingredients: nicotine salt (nicotine bitartrate dihydrate), a stabilizer (hydroxypropyl cellulose), fillers (microcrystalline cellulose, maltitol, gum arabic), pH adjusters (sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate), the sweetener acesulfame K, and flavorings. The nicotine is derived from tobacco, but the list has no tobacco leaf, no caffeine and no sugar on it. Each pouch delivers less than 1 calorie (zyn.com FAQ).

Every Ingredient in a ZYN Pouch

Source: zyn.com US FAQ and FDA decision summary for 20 ZYN products, checked Oct 24 2026.

How This List Was Built

Ingredients come from ZYN's US FAQ, cross-referenced with the FDA's January 2025 PMTA decision summary. The pouch-material line comes from PMI's website and STAT/The Examination. No lab analysis or product testing was done for this page. Disclosure: Roon makes a nicotine-free caffeine pouch and this page links to it. Every number below comes from brand labels, FDA filings, or peer-reviewed research.

Is There Tobacco in ZYN?

No tobacco leaf, but the nicotine comes from the tobacco plant. ZYN's UK site says it directly: "The nicotine in ZYN is derived from tobacco but ZYN does not contain tobacco leaf" (ZYN UK). The FDA's decision summary confirms "tobacco-derived nicotine" and notes ZYN pouches are "not smokeless tobacco products because they do not consist of cut, ground, powdered, or leaf tobacco" (FDA TPL review).

Pages ranking for "ZYN ingredients" sometimes claim the nicotine is synthetic. That is wrong. VELO Plus uses synthetic nicotine. ZYN does not.

Why Is There Baking Soda in a ZYN?

Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate are pH adjusters. ZYN calls them "minerals to help adjust pH levels." Higher pH converts more nicotine from its protonated (bound) form into free nicotine, the form most easily absorbed through oral tissue.

A CDC laboratory study (Stanfill et al., Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2021) analyzed 37 pouch brands and found pH ranged from 6.86 to 10.1, translating to 7.7% to 99.2% of nicotine in free-base form. ZYN does not publish its own pH or free-nicotine share, so where a ZYN pouch sits in that range is not public.

Does ZYN Have Sugar or Sweetener?

ZYN contains acesulfame K (Ace-K), an artificial sweetener FDA-approved in 1988 and cleared as a general-purpose sweetener in 2003. It is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar. Maltitol is listed by ZYN as a filler, and the FDA's sweeteners page lists it among the sugar alcohols. ZYN's FAQ says each pouch has "less than 1 calorie" (zyn.com).

Some sites add sucralose or xylitol to ZYN's list. Neither appears on the US FAQ or in the FDA decision summary. More on sweeteners across pouch brands and ZYN's calorie count.

What the FDA Found When It Tested ZYN

The FDA authorized 20 ZYN products (10 flavors, 3 mg and 6 mg each) in January 2025. The decision summary reports on 42 harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs):

• 36 of 42 HPHCs were too low to quantify.
• No measurable NNN, NNK (carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines) or B[a]P (benzo[a]pyrene). The FDA's caveat: levels were "not above the limit of quantitation," not proof of absolute zero.
• Reliably lower nicotine, free nicotine, NNN, and NNK than Swedish Match General Snus.
• Moisture roughly 94% lower than General Snus and the moist snuff comparator.

These results cover the authorized 3 mg and 6 mg products only. ZYN's 1.5 mg and 8 mg pouches and newer flavors such as Black Cherry, Dragonberry and Peach appear on zyn.com's product pages, but they were not part of this review.

What the Label Does Not Tell You

ZYN's ingredient list names every category but gives no amounts, and the FDA decision summary redacts them as "(b)(4)" (confidential business information), so exact quantities per pouch are not public. Other gaps:

• Flavor chemicals. The FDA review confirms each flavor (except Smooth) contains at least one added flavor ingredient, and Chill uses a synthetic cooling agent. The chemical names are redacted.
• Pouch fabric. PMI says "cellulose, or plant fiber" without elaboration. The FDA redacted the specifics. A STAT/The Examination report (Jul 2026) said the FDA did not answer what the pouch is made of. A 2024 Danish EPA report (Miljøprojekt 2267) described nicotine pouches broadly as semi-synthetic cellulose such as viscose fleece with a heat-melting binder. Per STAT, the authorization documents say a toxicology review found "that the pouch material itself is unlikely to produce any adverse health effects in consumers."

Who Should Not Use ZYN

Nicotine is the reason for most of the limits below. The FDA calls nicotine "a highly addictive chemical compound."

• Under 21: Federal law prohibits sale to anyone under 21.
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding: Talk to your clinician before using any nicotine product.
• Heart conditions or other medical concerns: Consult your prescriber.
• Non-nicotine users: FDA authorization is not a recommendation to start.
• Children: ZYN ships in child-resistant polypropylene cans (FDA decision summary). If a child ingests a pouch, call Poison Help: 1-800-222-1222.

For ZYN's strength options, see ZYN Strengths Explained.

Related from Roon

• Does ZYN Have Caffeine?
• ZYN Strengths Explained: Which Level Is Right for You?
• Roon Pouches: Ingredients, Doses, and Price

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ZYN synthetic nicotine?

No. ZYN uses tobacco-derived nicotine in the form of nicotine bitartrate dihydrate. The FDA's decision summary explicitly says "tobacco-derived nicotine" (FDA TPL review). VELO Plus uses synthetic nicotine; ZYN does not.

Does ZYN contain fiberglass or formaldehyde?

Neither appears on ZYN's published ingredient list or in the FDA decision summary. Neither word shows up as a ZYN ingredient in either document, so there is no published basis for the claim.

Do ZYN flavors have different ingredients?

Every ZYN flavor shares the same base (nicotine salt, stabilizer, fillers, pH adjusters, acesulfame K). According to the FDA review, each flavor except Smooth adds at least one flavor ingredient, and Chill includes a synthetic cooling agent. The specific chemicals and their amounts are redacted.

Are ZYN Ultra ingredients different from standard ZYN?

ZYN's FAQ does not publish an Ultra ingredient list. It describes Ultra only as "a hydro-boosted nicotine pouch, meaning it has a hint of moisture" (zyn.com FAQ). Beyond that added moisture, the Ultra formula is not published.

A Shorter Label With No Nicotine on It

ZYN's label lists one active compound: nicotine. Roon lists four active ingredients: caffeine, L-theanine, methylliberine (Dynamine), and theacrine (TeaCrine), with every dose printed on the tin: 80 mg caffeine, 60 mg L-theanine, 25 mg methylliberine and 5 mg theacrine. It has zero nicotine and zero sugar, and it does contain sucralose and natural and artificial flavor.

Methylliberine is what stretches the caffeine. In a randomized, double-blind, crossover PK study (n=12), co-dosing methylliberine with caffeine cut caffeine's oral clearance from 41.9 to 17.1 L/hr and extended its half-life from 7.2 to 15 hours without raising the peak (Journal of Exercise and Nutrition). That study dosed 100 mg methylliberine with 150 mg caffeine, about 4 times the methylliberine and 1.9 times the caffeine in one Roon pouch, so Roon relies on the same mechanism in the same direction without claiming the study's numbers. A 15-hour half-life is also not 15 hours of energy: most people feel a Roon pouch for 6 to 8 hours. Because caffeine clears more slowly, allow at least 8 hours between your last pouch and sleep, and keep to Roon's limit of 4 pouches a day (320 mg), under the FDA's 400 mg daily caffeine figure for healthy adults.

Tins start at $9.16 on a 12-tin subscription, about $0.61 per pouch. If you are stepping away from nicotine but want to keep a pouch in your day, this is a label with none of it on there. See Roon.

Sources

• ZYN US FAQ, zyn.com
• FDA PMTA Decision Summary (TPL Review), Jan 13 2025
• FDA Press Release: ZYN Authorization, Jan 16 2025
• Stanfill S et al., Characterization of Total and Unprotonated (Free) Nicotine Content of Nicotine Pouch Products, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2021
• FDA: Aspartame and Other Sweeteners in Food
• ZYN UK: How Do Nicotine Pouches Work?
• STAT / The Examination: Zyn Pouches and Microplastic Risk, Jul 14 2026
• Danish EPA: Nikotinposer, Miljøprojekt 2267, Apr 2024
• FDA: Nicotine Is Why Tobacco Products Are Addictive
• VELO US FAQ
• Methylliberine and caffeine pharmacokinetic crossover study, Journal of Exercise and Nutrition

Written by Roon Team