Anti-tobacco advocates have come out to strongly oppose a move by the British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya company to introduce a new product in the Kenyan market.
This comes almost three weeks after BAT Kenya announced plans to introduce a nicotine product that will be consumed in form of sweets.
BAT Kenya Managing Director Beverly Spencer defended the new product stating that it will be less risky due to the absence of smoke.
“It is the smoking and the burning of tobacco that creates the risks associated with cigarettes, which is why we want to introduce the pouches,” Spencer said as quoted by Standard.
Reports on Standard indicate that BAT Kenya plans to invest Sh2.5 billion in the production of the new product.
Led by their chairman Joel Gitali, officials from the Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance (KETCA) argued that although BAT Kenya has eliminated smoke in the new product, it is still harmful to human health.
“The company claims it has reduced risks, compared to cigarettes, but it has not publicly produced adequate data to show nicotine pouches are a less risky alternative to cigarettes. In any case, why should Kenyans be subjected to harmful products merely because they are ‘less-harmful’?” Gitali said.