Jan 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration

authorized the marketing of 20 Zyn products on Thursday, the

first such authorization for nicotine pouches in the country.

The authorized products pose lower risk of cancer and other

serious health conditions than cigarettes and most smokeless

tobacco products, such as moist snuff and snus due to

substantially lower amounts of harmful constituents, the agency

said in a statement.

Philip Morris ( PM ), which bought Zyn-parent Swedish Match

in a $16 billion deal in 2022, continues to invest in increasing

production for the nicotine pouches amid strong demand.

Zyn, an alternative to traditional chewing tobacco products,

is a nicotine pouch which does not contain tobacco.

"The FDA's authorization of all ZYN nicotine pouches

currently marketed by Swedish Match in the U.S. is an important

step to protect the public health by providing better

alternatives to cigarettes and other traditional tobacco

products for adults 21+," said Tom Hayes, president of Swedish

Match North America in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Shares of Philip Morris ( PM ) were up about 1% on Thursday.