Licorice root for tobacco manufacturing

Updated

Bogot Master supplies wild licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) from Khorezm, Uzbekistan, to manufacturers and processors in the tobacco industry. This page gives the background to licorice in tobacco manufacture, the US and EU rules that apply to it as an ingredient, the documents we provide for your ingredient reporting, and the forms we supply. It is for businesses only.

Licorice in tobacco manufacture

Licorice has been a tobacco ingredient for well over a century. In 1885 the US Department of State reported that the United States had imported 39,057,000 pounds of licorice root the year before, used mainly in the manufacture of plug tobacco. In 1911 the US Supreme Court described licorice paste as "an essential ingredient in the manufacture of plug tobacco".

The practice continues. In 2003 the EU's Scientific Committee on Food noted that liquorice extract, at up to 4 %, "is also added to tobacco products, including chewing tobacco".

US rules

  • Characterizing flavors in cigarettes. Section 907(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 387g) has, since 2009, prohibited a cigarette or any of its component parts from containing an artificial or natural flavor, other than tobacco or menthol, or an herb or spice "that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke". Licorice is one of the examples the section names. The test is whether the product has a characterizing flavor, which is for the manufacturer to assess.
  • Ingredient listing. Section 904(a)(1) (21 U.S.C. 387d) requires a listing of all ingredients, "including tobacco, substances, compounds, and additives", added to the tobacco, paper, filter or other part of each tobacco product, by brand and by quantity.

EU rules

Directive 2014/40/EU, the Tobacco Products Directive, sets out:

  • Ingredient reporting (Article 5). Manufacturers and importers submit, by brand name and type, a list of all ingredients and their quantities, in descending order of weight, and report any change of composition.
  • Characterising flavours (Article 7). Member States prohibit tobacco products with a "characterising flavour", defined as "a clearly noticeable smell or taste other than one of tobacco" resulting from an additive. Additives essential for manufacture remain allowed, provided they do not result in a characterising flavour and do not increase addictiveness, toxicity or CMR properties to a significant or measurable degree. The prohibition applies to cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and heated tobacco products (Article 7(12)).
  • Prohibited additives (Article 7(6)). Among them, additives that create the impression of a health benefit or reduced risk, and, for products for smoking, additives that facilitate inhalation or nicotine uptake.
  • The priority list (Article 6). Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/787 lists 15 additives in cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco that carry enhanced reporting obligations. Liquorice (CAS 68916-91-6) is one of them. Manufacturers and importers of products containing a listed additive carry out comprehensive studies on its effects, as Article 6(2) sets out.

These are the rules in force on 26 October 2026. Compliance of the finished product rests with its manufacturer; check your national rules as well.

What we provide for your reporting

Ingredient reporting needs consistent, documented material. For each load:

  • Identity: Glycyrrhiza glabra, root, wild, dug across Khorezm, Uzbekistan, under a permit from the National Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Ecology and Climate Change.
  • Certificate of analysis: from a professional laboratory in Uzbekistan that you can choose. It always covers glycyrrhizic acid, ash and moisture; pesticide residues, heavy metals and other tests are added when you name them in your enquiry.
  • One lot number on the bags, the invoice, the packing list and the certificate of analysis, and a retained sample of every shipment, kept for one year.
  • Treatment: every load is fumigated with phosphine (aluminium phosphide) before shipping, with a fumigation certificate; the root is never irradiated.
  • Specification: on each product page; send us yours, and we quote against it.

Forms we supply

We supply the root itself, in the form your process or your extract supplier takes:

Our extraction partner's licorice extract is a raw material for further purification, not an extract for direct use, so we do not offer it for tobacco manufacture.

Packing is PP bags of 20, 21, 25 or 30 kg, or pressed bales and cubes; see shipping and packing. Free samples of 100–200 g per grade go to companies. For a quote or a sample, use the button below.

Sources