The present invention relates to a composition which can be used as product as a smoke product. The invention further relates to a method for producing a composition producing smoke when heated or burned and its use.

During burning or heating substances, high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction can take place. At these high-temperatures oxidized, often gaseous products are produced, in a mixture termed as smoke.

Tobacco plants are processed into tobacco which when burned produce smoke containing nicotine. Nicotine is a widely used, recreational drug, because it is highly addictive and hard to discontinue using it.

Besides nicotine, smoke from tobacco products contains over 6,000 other chemicals. Many of these substances are detrimental to one’s health and can lead to chronic lung conditions, such as COPD, cancer and cardiovascular disorders. Tobacco use is the world’s leading cause of preventable death, according to the World Health Organization. Worldwide, it is estimated that tobacco causes about 7 million deaths per year. If current trends are not reversed, that figure is expected to rise to 10 million deaths per year by the mid 2020s or early 2030s. The use of tobacco in smoking products is therefore getting more and more restricted in many counties throughout the whole world.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an alternative composition which produces substantially harmless smoke when heated or burned.

This is achieved by a composition producing smoke when heated or burned comprising sugar beet pulp, glycerol and a sugar compound.

The sugar beet pulp is a natural product and considered the waste product during the extraction process of sugar from sugar beets. During the extraction process, the beets are processed in a diffuser in which sugar is extracted from the beets through osmosis. The water and sugar juice are saved, as this contains the extracted sugar and the remaining sugar beet pulp is usually squeezed, dried and formed into pellets to be sold for livestock feed and pet food.

Glycerol is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. It is widely applied in the food, pharmaceutical and personal care industry. It is further known for its smoke development when it is heated. Glycerol is therefore also comprised in the composition of this invention.

The sugar compound can be sorbitol, propylene glycol, fructose, ethyl maltol, or a combination thereof, but preferably sorbitol.

Heating or burning the composition of this invention, results in a smoke having a very similar density and structure to the smoke produced from heating or burning tobacco products. It could therefore be provided as an alternative for tobacco smoke in a wide range of smoking products.

The smoke produced from this composition does substantially not comprise nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide, which are three of the main harmful or addictive components of tobacco smoke. The composition of this invention could therefore be used as a very comparable alternative smoking product which does not comprise said harmful or addictive components.

A further aspect of the invention is that the composition of this invention further can comprise at least one flavoring agent, preferably a natural flavoring agent. The flavoring agent can provide a flavor to the smoke to enhance the smoking experience. Flavors resulting from addition of the flavoring agent can at least be any of the following flavors or a combination thereof: apple, mint, chocolate, chewing gum, grapes, peach, blueberry, watermelon, lemon, lime, cranberry and/or strawberry.

Another aspect of this invention is that the composition can also comprise at least one coloring agent, preferably a natural coloring agent. The color resulting from the coloring agent provides an attractive appearance of the composition of this invention. The coloring agent is preferably azorubine which is also known as El 22 or MX 32041200.

An even further aspect of this invention is that the composition can also comprise salt, preferably sea salt. The salt provides an attractive shining appearance of the composition. Another effect of the salt is that it balances the sugar taste of the other components.

In an embodiment of the invention the composition comprises between 10 % and 40 %, more preferably between 20 % and 30 % sugar beet pulp.

In this embodiment of the invention the composition further comprises between 50 % and 90 %, preferably between 60 % and 80 % glycerol.

A further aspect of this embodiment is that the composition comprises between 8 % and 20 %, preferably between 12 % and 16 % sugar compound.

Optionally this embodiment comprises between 0.05 % and 1.6 %, preferably between 0.08 % and 1.2 % flavoring agent.

This embodiment optionally further comprises between 0.02 % and 0.05 %, preferably between 0.03 % and 0.04 % coloring agent.

Also this embodiment optionally comprises between 0.005 % and 0.009 %, preferably between 0.03 % and 0.04 % salt.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention the composition of this invention comprises between 10 % and 40 % sugar beet pulp, between 50 % and 90 % glycerol, between 8 % and 20 % sugar compound, wherein the sugar compound is sorbitol, propylene glycol, fructose, ethyl maltol, or a combination thereof preferably sorbitol, optionally between 0.05 % and 1.6 % of flavoring agent, preferably a natural flavoring agent, optionally between 0.02 % and 0.05 % of coloring agent, preferably a natural coloring agent, and optionally between 0.005 % and 0.009 % salt, preferably sea salt.

In a more preferred embodiment of this invention the composition of this invention comprises between 20 % and 30 % sugar beet pulp, between 60 % and 80 % glycerol, between 12 % and 16 % sugar compound, optionally between 0.08 % and 1.2 % of flavoring agent, optionally between 0.03 % and 0.04 % of coloring agent, and optionally between 0.006 % and 0.008 % salt.

In this more preferred embodiment of this invention the composition of this invention can also comprise between 20 % and 30 % sugar beet pulp, between 60 % and 80 % glycerol, between 12 % and 16 % sorbitol, optionally between 0.08 % and 1.2 % of flavoring agent, optionally between 0.03 % and 0.04 % of coloring agent, and optionally between 0.006 % and 0.008 % salt.

The composition of the invention can further comprise between 20 % and 30 % sugar beet pulp, between 60 % and 80 % glycerol, between 12 % and 16 % sugar compound, optionally between 0.08 % and 1.2 % of a natural flavoring agent, optionally between 0.03 % and 0.04 % of coloring agent, and optionally between 0.006 % and 0.008 % salt.

The composition of the invention can also comprise between 20 % and 30 % sugar beet pulp, between 60 % and 80 % glycerol, between 12 % and 16 % sugar compound, optionally between 0.08 % and 1.2 % of a flavoring agent, optionally between 0.03 % and 0.04 % of natural coloring agent, and optionally between 0.006 % and 0.008 % salt.

Furthermore, the composition of the invention can comprise between 20 % and 30 % sugar beet pulp, between 60 % and 80 % glycerol, between 12 % and 16 % sugar compound, optionally between 0.08 % and 1.2 % of a flavoring agent, optionally between 0.03 % and 0.04 % of coloring agent, and optionally between 0.006 % and 0.008 % sea salt.

In the most preferred embodiment the composition of this invention comprises between 20 % and 30 % sugar beet pulp, between 60 % and 80 % glycerol, between 12 % and 16 % sorbitol, optionally between 0.08 % and 1.2% natural flavoring agent, optionally between 0.03 % and 0.04 % natural coloring agent, and optionally between 0.006 % and 0.008 % sea salt.

The invention further relates to a method for the preparation of a smoke producing composition comprising the step of: a) mixing sugar beet pulp with glycerol and a sugar compound, wherein the sugar compound is sorbitol, propylene glycol, fructose, ethyl maltol, or a combination thereof, preferably sorbitol.

Mixing of the components of the smoke producing composition can be performed in any preferred sequence.

The method for the preparation a smoke producing composition can further comprise the step of: b) adding a flavoring agent, preferably a natural flavoring agent during or after the step a). Another aspect of the method for the preparation a smoke producing composition is that this method comprises the step of: c) adding a coloring agent, preferably a natural coloring agent during or after the step a).

A further aspect of the method of this invention is that it can comprise the step of: d) adding salt, preferably sea salt during or after the step a).

Because the smoke produced from heating or buring the composition of this invention has comparable characteristics to tobacco smoke the composition of this invention can be used as a smoke product. The invention therefore further relates to the use of the composition of this invention in a smoke product. A smoke product can be any product in which tobacco normally can be used. The composition can therefore be used as smoke products for/in water pipe (hookah), cigarettes, cigars, pipe smoking, vaporizers, Beedi, Kretek, or any other product used for smoking.

Water pipe tobacco smoking is increasing in prevalence worldwide. The invention thus further relates to use of the composition of this invention in a water pipe (hookah). Because the smoke produced when heating or burning the composition of this invention does substantially not contain nicotine, tar or carbon monoxide, the use of this composition in water pipe smoking is in a preferred embodiment a great alternative to water pipe tobacco smoking products.

Incense is a mixture of aromatic organic compounds, which can be heated or burned providing a pleasant smell. Another aspect of this invention is therefore that the composition of this invention can also be used as an incense product.

EXAMPLE

To determine whether the sugar beet pulp of the composition of the invention comprises nicotine, the sugar beet pulp is tested for the presence of tobacco DNA. First the DNA present in sugar beet pulp sample is extracted and its quality and quantity are measured. Since the quality and quantity met the requirements to be further analyzed, the DNA could be used in a RealTime PCR reaction for the detection of the target DNA (tobacco-specific DNA sequence). Positive and negative controls are run in parallel and the results are summarized in Table 1.

Tablel. Determining the presence of tobacco DNA in sugar beet pulp As shown in Table 1, the sugar beet pulp sample did not match with the tobacco DNA. It can therefore be concluded that the there is no tobacco plant material present in the sugar beet pulp sample. Since no tobacco plant material is present in the sugar beet pulp the sugar beet pulp does not comprise a significant amount of nicotine.