Modern oral pouches are increasingly being explored by the industry as a reduced risk nicotine delivery platform. When compared with conventional cigarettes, the science of manufacturing quality assurance (QA) for such products is in its infancy.

The practical measurement of key quality parameters for modern oral products, such as weight and tensile strength, are often confounded by the pouch design which results in short- and long-term variability.

The study objective was to develop methodologies that provide practical tools for line side QA of modern oral pouch manufacture to drive manufacturing consistency of the making process.

To overcome measurements variability, a robotic measurement tool was created that allowed measurement of key parameters. Time based phenomena concerned with moisture loss could be investigated as could an alternative to CORESTA Recommended Methods for determining pouch seal strength.

High humectant content contributes significantly to changes in test pouch weight from 0.1 % to 1 % weight loss per minute when exposed to factory conditions (brand dependent). A methodology is proposed that minimises errors due to moisture loss.

The key seam tensile strength parameter when using the CORESTA Recommended Method No. 90 (CRM90) is a time-consuming process best conducted in a laboratory. Measuring the tensile strength of a complete, full pouch was explored. A comparison is presented between the two methods. For the test piece, CRM90 yielded a seam strength slightly greater than the “full pouch” method (4.21N vs 4.15N) with slightly better variability (SD N = 18 0.388 vs N = 34 0.453).

The limitations in terms of time and batch size for such an automated QA tool are explored, concluding that for QA purposes, a sample size “sweet spot” of between 5 and 10 pouches is ideal for immediate sampling and analysis.