They should fall under the same UK legal age restrictions as cigarettes and vapes, say campaigners.
Health campaigners are calling for a loophole to be closed that allows a nicotine product to be sold over the counter and online to under-18s.
Hazel Cheeseman of the anti-smoking charity Ash, told the BBC that better legal regulation was needed - to ban free samples and sales to under-18s, introduce limits on strength and to restrict marketing of the pouches. But he adds: "We aren't going to get rid of people using nicotine, people are always going to be looking for something that gives them pleasure."
In its survey of 13,000 people, about one in 25 had tried nicotine pouches and awareness was highest among 18 to 24-year-olds, with 45% having heard of them. Dr Leonie Brose, reader in nicotine research at King's College London, agreed the current regulation should be reviewed. But it concluded that switching from cigarettes to nicotine pouches could represent a reduction in the health risk for a person who smokes, if they stop completely.