The more popular the IQOS gadget for smokers becomes, the more interest of scientists, doctors and the media it attracts to itself. And along with interest, questions arise. There is more than enough data in the open about the device itself. And those shared by the manufacturer itself, and research with reviews from independent sources.
You can read about the tobacco heating technology itself at iqos.ua, we will not go deep. But there is not much information about Heets sticks for IQOS. What are they made of? Is there tobacco inside? Why is there a filter in the stick? Is there plastic in this filter and can it melt?
Representatives of our editorial office even once visited the R&D center of Philip Morris International in Switzerland and found out everything about how the sticks for IQOS Dubai are made and what is actually put inside.
Из чего состоит стик Heets?
The stick can be disassembled into two parts: tobacco and filter.
There is a little less tobacco inside than in a cigarette, moreover, it is tightly compressed. But the Aykos technology is designed in such a way that a lot of tobacco is not needed. It’s just used more sparingly. After all, tobacco burns out in a cigarette, and two-thirds of it simply turns into heat and ash. IQOS heets the tobacco without burning it, and everything is converted into taste.
The tobacco itself is visually different from cigarette tobacco due to the processing technology.
How is tobacco grown for HEETS?
Inside the sticks for IQOS there is exactly the same tobacco as in cigarettes. For both, a mixture of three varieties is used – Virginia, Burley and Oriental. Each of the varieties has its own specifics and its own taste.
For example, Virginia is the most common tobacco variety. It accounts for up to 70% of all world tobacco production. It has the lightest and sweetest aroma due to the high glucose content in the leaves. Mainly grown in Brazil and the USA.
Burley (or Burleigh) is the strongest of all types of tobacco. It is he who adds bitterness and richness to the taste. And it is he who “pulls the throat.” Its sugar content is low, and its nicotine content is high. Burley is the main ingredient in cigars.
Oriental is the most aromatic and spicy. Able to give a tickling sensation in the nose. It is grown mostly in sunny Mediterranean countries: in Turkey, Greece, in the Balkans.
How is tobacco dried and selected for IQOS?
Ripe leaves are harvested and dried either in the air or in special drying machines. At this stage, the differences in the processing of tobacco for regular cigarettes and sticks for IQOS begin.
Only those of the highest quality are selected from the dried leaves. Elastic, with moderate density, not affected by diseases and pests. According to the manufacturer, only 13% of the annual tobacco harvest meets the quality criteria for sticks.
After drying, only the pulp is removed from the sheets selected for the Heets, without veins. The veins will go into cigarette mixes. Then the cigarette tobacco is finely chopped, and the tobacco for IQOS is crushed to a powder state.
Why is tobacco impregnated with glycerin and propylene glycol?
The tobacco powder is moistened with glycerin and propylene glycol. By the way, propylene glycol is also added to cigarette tobacco.
Propylene glycol is a clear, slightly viscous, odorless organic liquid. Used in the food and tobacco industries. Has a bactericidal and moisture-retaining effect. In cigarettes and icos sticks, propylene glycol protects the tobacco from drying out.
Glycerin is a very common ingredient in cosmetics, medicine and food processing. Almost any moisturizer, including even baby products, contains glycerin. It is also included in solutions for inhalation for respiratory diseases, in cough syrups and sprays for sore throat. Food glycerin is used in the production of sweets (for example, in chocolate bars, marshmallows, marshmallows, marmalade, toffee, any “soft” chocolate), for baking, cake mastic, alcoholic liqueurs, chewing gum and several hundred other products.
The stick tobacco must be moistened with glycerin to allow the aerosol to evaporate. Without it, evaporation will be very weak. You can try pouring dry tobacco from a cigarette into a frying pan yourself and heat it. There will be nothing. But if you moisten it with at least water, fragrant vapor will begin to stand out.
What is the filter for IQOS Sticks made of?
First, let’s figure out why there is a filter in the sticks for IQOS. After all, there is no combustion, smoke and tar, and there is nothing special to filter. The main mission of the filter is to cool the aerosol to a comfortable temperature for inhalation and remove excess moisture from it.
And the stick filter itself is not very similar to the cigarette one. In cigarettes, the filter must cleanse the smoke from at least large particles and combustion products – ash, soot, burned paper and tobacco residues. It is also assumed that a cigarette filter should absorb tar, but it cannot actually filter it.
The stick filter for IQOS consists of three elements. The two acetate rings simply fix and fix the main part – the polylactide filter.
The most important thing in the filter is the biopolymer layer. If you expand it, it will look like a film. It is made from polylactide. This material is obtained from polylactic acid. And that, in turn, is made from cornstarch and sugarcane.
Since it contains only natural materials, polylactide is biodegradable. When composting, it completely decomposes into carbon dioxide and water in 1-3 months. Polylactide is also widely used in medicine (for example, for self-absorbable surgical sutures) or in the production of biodegradable glassware.
When the filter absorbs excess moisture and heat from the aerosol, the biopolymer film thickens and darkens slightly. This is a common reaction of polylactide to contact with hot moisture. Many are worried about whether the filter does not emit toxic substances. No, it doesn’t. Firstly, the filter is not made of plastic, but organic substances that can break down into water and CO2. Secondly, the melting point of polylactide starts from 250⁰С. The temperature of the aerosol is several times lower, otherwise it would simply not be possible to inhale it. Try breathing over a boiling kettle. More precisely, no, do not try, so as not to get a burn of the mucous membranes. And this despite the fact that the temperature of boiling water is only 100⁰С.
How are Heets flavored flavors obtained?
The Heets line has 3 pure tobacco flavors (Amber, Bronze, Yellow) and 3 flavored (Purple, Green Zing, Turquoise). The question often arises of how these additional flavors are added to the sticks – menthol, citrus, wild berries. We must say right away that nothing is added to the tobacco itself and nothing is added. Aromatization is achieved not by impregnating tobacco with fragrances, but by using a special flavored thread in the filter.
That is, IQOS heats ordinary natural tobacco. And the aerosol gets flavor notes of berries or menthol when it passes through the filter.
Why is there foil inside the sticks?
The paper wrapper of the stick has a metallized coating on the inner surface. It has no special secret mission. This is just “foolproof” so that the sticks cannot be set on fire and try to smoke like regular cigarettes. That is not what they are meant for.
Where are IQOS sticks made?
Initially, all IQOS sticks were produced in two factories – in Switzerland (the one we visited) and in Italy. With the growing demand for the gadget and its sticks, the company began to repurpose many of its cigarette manufacturing facilities around the world.
All IQOS sticks are brought to Ukraine from a state-of-the-art factory in Bologna, Italy. All stages are implemented there, from the processing of dried tobacco to the production of biopolymer filters.
Heets Price
The cost of a pack of sticks for IQOS starts from AED 85.
Detailed information on heets can be found at https://shopuae.ae/ under the flavors section.
