U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cleared the air recently about smoke-free nicotine alternatives.

Kennedy said pouches, a category of nicotine products that have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, is “the safest way to consume nicotine.”

The nation’s nation’s top health official was featured in a recent “Fox & Friends” segment on Fox News.

“Nicotine itself does not cause cancer. There is no evidence that it’s carcinogenic. Nicotine pouches are probably the safest way [to] consume nicotine,” said Secretary Kennedy. “Vapes are second, but the thing that we really want to get away from is cigarettes.”

Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins said, “Kennedy wants to save Americans from hundreds of billions in smoke related health costs.”

FOX also included comments from Dr. Matthew Holman, vice president of U.S. scientific engagement and regulatory strategy at Philip Morris International U.S. (PMI U.S.), the maker of ZYN nicotine pouches.

Holman reminded the FOX audience that ZYN is the only FDA-authorized nicotine pouch available in the U.S., adding that “In the case of ZYN, [the] FDA authorized it as a tobacco product for marketing because they felt like the risks were substantially lower.”

In January, the FDA authorized ZYN, making it the first and only FDA-authorized nicotine pouch on the market.

“To receive marketing authorizations, the FDA must have sufficient evidence that the new products offer greater benefits to population health than risks,” Matthew Farrelly, Ph.D., director of the Office of Science in the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said.

“In this case, the data show that these nicotine pouch products meet that bar by benefiting adults who use cigarettes and/or smokeless tobacco products and completely switch to these products.”

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.