Table 1.

Description of oral tobacco product (OTP) types available in the United States.

Type	Common examples	Description	Content	Characteristics
Pluga	Levi Garrett, Days O Work	Tobacco leaves pressed into bricks or cakes	Burley, bright or cigar tobacco	Sugar content: approximately 24%. Plug available as moist plug (>15% moisture) or firm plug (<15% moisture)
Loose leafa	Red Man, Beechnut	Shredded tobacco leaves	Air-cured, cigar leaf tobaccos from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin	High sugar content (approx. 35%)
Twista	Cumberland, Mammoth Cave	Dried tobacco leaves twisted into a ‘rope’	Dark and air-cured leaf tobacco and treated with tar-like tobacco leaf extracts	Normally no added sweetener or flavorings
Dry snuff (loose)b	Tube Rose, Navy	Finely ground or pulverized tobacco	Fermented fire-cured tobacco from Kentucky and Tennessee	Moisture content is < 10%; available in two varieties, “sweet” and “salty”; this type of snuff can be used in the mouth or sniffed into the nose
Dry snuff (pouch)b	Skoal Dry, Taboka	Finely ground or pulverized tobacco enclosed in pouch	Fermented fire-cured tobacco from Kentucky and Tennessee	Very low moisture levels; available in cinnamon, spice, frost varieties, etc.
Moist snuffb,c	Copenhagen, Skoal	Ground or minced tobacco	Air-cured or fire-cured tobaccos	Moisture content ranges from 10%–55%; may be highly flavored with wintergreen, mint, apple, berry, bourbon, etc.
Snus	Camel Snus, Marlboro Snus	Tobacco enclosed in a pouch	Steam-cured and pasteurized tobacco	Pouches typically 6–15 per pack
Dissolvable	Ariva, Camel Orbs	Pellet made from compressed tobacco	May contain 100% Virginia tobacco	Typically 15–20 per pack

Note: USDHHS, 1986; IARC, 2007; 3^rd Int. Conf. on Smokeless Tobacco, 2002; RJRT, n.d.; Star Scientific, Inc., 2007.

^aLoose leaf, plug, and twist are collectively known as chewing tobacco.

^bSnuff may refer to moist or dry snuff.

^cThis product type was not analyzed in this study.