Hybrid product launched

South Korean tobacco manufacturer KT&G on Monday unveiled what it described as its new heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco device, Lil Hybrid, the first HNB device that works by heating a liquid cartridge, according to a story in The Korea Herald.

“Our previous HNB tobacco devices – Lil Mini and Lil Plus – had received consumer feedback that the taste needs to be improved,” Lim Wang-seob, chief of the company’s product innovation division, was quoted as saying. “That’s why we came up with our exclusive and new platform called Lil Hybrid.”

Lil Hybrid uses both a detachable liquid cartridge and an HNB-type stick, which has the brand name Miix. The liquid cartridge and Miix are compatible only with Lil Hybrid.

Miix is available in three different tastes, Miix Presso, Miix Mix and Miix Ice, while the liquid cartridges do not contain flavorings.

KT&G said that previous HNB tobacco devices worked by directly heating a tobacco stick to about 315 Celsius, but that Lil Hybrid heated the liquid cartridge to about 160 degrees.

Meanwhile, Lim was quoted as saying that, according to safety and health-risk tests conducted by a third-party organization, the health risks of Lil Hybrid were less than those of the company’s previous models.

In July, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety published the results of tests that it claimed had found HNB tobacco products to be equally, if not more harmful than traditional cigarettes. A court case has been launched to force it to disclose its test methodologies.

The Korean government recently decided to require, from December, that HNB products carry the same graphic warning images as combustible-tobacco products.