Banned claims that heated tobacco is healthier in shops supported by Philip Morris
People who work in Dutch tobacconists supported by Philip Morris actively promote heated tobacco as a cleaner, healthier alternative to cigarettes, according to undercover research by the journalistic platform Pointer. Undercover journalists recorded shop workers praising heated tobacco as “less harmful,” “better,” “cleaner,” and in some cases, downright “healthier” than other tobacco products. That violates the Dutch Smoking and Tobacco Act, which clearly states that no positive link to health may be established for tobacco products.
Pointer journalists visited 13 tobacco specialty stores supported by Philip Morris and had heated tobacco promoted to them in each one. These involve tobacconists where the tobacco giant has a major influence - it finances large parts of the shop’s interior or renovation, provides training to store staff, and offers support by sending representatives to inform customers about its products.
Some sellers actively told Pointer journalists that heated tobacco is less harmful or healthier than cigarettes and vapes, with claims like heated tobacco only releasing nicotine and “not the harmful substances found in a cigarette.”
Others promoted it through indirect claims. One told a Pointer journalist that he couldn’t make any progress at the gym while smoking cigarettes, and that changed drastically when he switched to heated tobacco. “Last year, I participated in an obstacle run and trained three times a week. My fitness suddenly improved significantly.”
The sellers seem aware that they are breaking the rules. “I am not allowed to say that it is better than smoking or vaping. Those are the rules,” a store employee told a Pointer journalist. But then he showed a picture with a cigarette filter that is clearly a darker color after use than a filter from a stick used for smoking heated tobacco.
Pointer showed the undercover footage to legal expert Jan-Koen Sluijs, who concluded that the tobacconists are violating the law with these kinds of statements and suggestions. “Saying that you have started feeling fitter suggests a health claim.”
The claims are also not scientifically backed, Michele Davigo, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Philip Morris’s heated tobacco at Maastricht University, told the program. “Results from short-term studies show that heated tobacco causes comparable health damage to cigarettes,” Davigo said.
“The toxic substances that cause lung cancer and the lung disease COPD are also present in heated tobacco,” Davigo said. “In lower quantities than cigarettes, but we do not know if the quantities are low enough.” The product has only been on the market for 10 years, so there is not enough data available for the long-term health damage.
Heated tobacco also releases other harmful substances that are not present in cigarette smoke. “The reason for this is simple: the tobacco stick you use with this product has a double plastic filter; this is not the case with a cigarette. And when you heat plastic, a lot of very harmful substances are released.”
Pointer discovered that Philip Morris supports one-third of all the new tobacconists that opened since 2021, when the law was implemented that eventually banned supermarkets from selling tobacco products in mid-2024. In 2021, the Netherlands had 246 tobacconists. Since then, 371 new ones opened and 123 closed, bringing the total to 494 in 2025.
Philip Morris declined to comment on Pointer’s findings, saying that “filming inside stores is not permitted” and they “cannot verify the statements made by the shopkeepers.”
The tobacco giant gave the program a general statement saying that it strives for a world without cigarettes and claimed that heated tobacco is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. According to the company, the Netherlands could do more to cut down on cigarette smoking by ensuring that “adult smokers know the facts.”
