Sensitive-C – A Smokeless Tobacco Cigarette
Created by German company Olig AG, the Sensitive-C is a new kind of tobacco cigarette that allegedly delivers the same taste smokers crave without any of the smoke associated with regular analogs.
While looking around the always-informative E-Cigarette Forum, I came across an intriguing post about a smokeless tobacco cigarette called the Sensitive-C. I had never heard about it before, so I was interested to learn more. Luckily, the post came with a link to the product website, and although it was written in poor English, it did provide some useful information. The Sensitive-C was developed by Olig Ag, in Germany, as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. It was apparently designed to make it easier and less dangerous for smokers to enjoy tobacco without inhaling any smoke or the thousands of chemicals it contains. Featuring a filter-like mouthpiece, cigarette paper and tobacco, the Sensitive-C looks exactly like a classic smoke, but it works in a completely different way. Instead of lighting up, the user has to slightly press the tip of the cigarette to activate the heating element inside. That produces a temperature high enough to release the flavor and nicotine in the tobacco but not enough to actually ignite the cigarette and produce smoke. According to the official website “the calming effect of tobacco, the familiar aroma and the perceived heat produce the unique approximation to a cigarette never before reached by any of Sensitive-C´s predecessors.”
Throughout the development process, Sensitive-C has apparently been tested by several independent experts and institutions, including the Leibniz-Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, the IUT Institute for Environmental Technologies GmbH in Berlin, and the Waste Management Association of Central Germany, among others, and classified by German/ EU legislation as a tobacco-product. That means that if it ever goes into production, the Sensitive-C will be distributed over the same channels as classical cigarettes, including kiosks, duty-free shops or cigarette dispensing machines. Apart from its cigarette-like look and feel, Olig AG also lists ease of use among the advantages of Sensitive-C. The website mentions that all other competitive products are much more complicated to use and can only be bought over closed channels like pharmacies. That leads me to believe the online presentation of this concept was put up before electronic cigarettes became so popular around the world. It’s true they’re a completely different technology, but e-cigarettes would should definitely be considered competition, yet they are not even mentioned.
It’s not clear what the heating element is, but the Sensitive-C site mentions that it doesn’t produce any of the residues and toxins regular smokers are exposed to, or the awful smell. The innovative product would allow users to enjoy the taste of tobacco virtually anywhere (public buildings, aircrafts, restaurants, etc.) among friends or with their families without any consequences. Olig AG claims production capacity of the Sensitive-C is guaranteed and all its parts have been pretested, and that the company is ready for production “in the shortest time possible”. Apparently there are several interested parties “from the cigarette industry the pharmaceutical industry, big corporate groups, lifestyle companies, funds and investment companies and all industries which are directly or indirectly affected by the effects of the non-smoking legislation”.
The technology behind the Sensitive-C sounds a lot like what RJ Reynolds used for their Eclipse smokeless cigarette, a product that never really took off despite claimed benefits of using it. And with tobacco companies showing growing interest in electronic cigarettes, it’s doubtful this concept that involves using tobacco will be a hit, if it ever launches. I do welcome any alternative to smoking, I just think we already have a much better product readily available.
i like to have one