Key Points
- Rogue Holdings, Swisher International, and Northerner Scandinavia to pay a combined $3 million.
- The settlement follows a 2024 lawsuit alleging the companies shipped flavored nicotine pouches into the city.
- Unflavored Zyn products remain legal for sale in San Francisco.
- Officials say flavored products target youth and undermine public health laws.
- San Francisco has been at the forefront of tobacco regulation, including the 2019 Juul sales ban.
The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office announced Friday it had secured a $3 million settlement with several online tobacco retailers accused of violating the city’s ban on flavored nicotine products by selling flavored Zyn pouches to local customers.
City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement that the companies — Rogue Holdings, Swisher International, and Northerner Scandinavia — “are not above our San Francisco laws and cannot ship banned products into our city.”
“We take protecting our community’s health seriously, and selling these products will not be tolerated,” Chiu added.
Under the settlement, Rogue Holdings and Swisher International will jointly pay $485,000, while Northerner Scandinavia will pay $2.5 million. The companies are also required to post clear language on their websites stating that flavored nicotine products are prohibited in San Francisco.
Zyn, produced by Swedish Match and acquired by tobacco giant Philip Morris International in 2022, has surged in popularity in recent years as an alternative to cigarettes and vaping. The small, coin-sized pouches contain nicotine salt and are placed under the user’s upper lip. A pack of 15 typically costs less than $10.
The settlement applies only to flavored products. Unflavored nicotine pouches may continue to be sold in convenience stores and tobacco shops across the city.
Public health advocates and parents have expressed growing concern that companies such as Zyn and Juul are using flavored products to attract a new generation of nicotine users. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that most middle and high school students who use vaping devices or nicotine pouches prefer flavored varieties.
This latest action marks another step in San Francisco’s long-running campaign against the tobacco industry. In 2019, the city became the first major U.S. municipality to ban the sale of Juul vapes, and in 2023 it filed lawsuits against online retailers selling flavored e-cigarettes.
Supervisor Shamann Walton said in a statement, “We took bold action to ban flavored tobacco products because we saw how these companies were deliberately targeting our young people.”
“This settlement is a reminder that our laws have teeth,” Walton added. “If you break our laws and endanger our community, you will be held accountable.”
Cover image credit: The San Francisco Standard
