Thermal treatment process for tobacco materials

A method of preparing a smokeless tobacco product, comprising:

• (i) mixing a tobacco material, water, a buffering agent that buffers within a pH range of about 6 to about 10, a flavorant, a binder, a filler, and an additive selected from the group consisting of lysine, glycine, histidine, alanine, methionine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, proline, phenylalanine, valine, arginine, cysteine, asparaginase, and combinations thereof, to form a moist tobacco mixture;
• (ii) forming the moist tobacco mixture into a desired product shape;
• and
• (iii) heating the moist tobacco mixture at a temperature of at least about 80° C. to produce a dried smokeless tobacco product, wherein the pH of the moist tobacco mixture during the heating step is less than about 10.

A method of preparing a smokeless tobacco product, comprising:

• (i) mixing about 10 to about 60 dry weight percent of a tobacco material, up to about 50 dry weight percent of one or more fillers, about 20 to about 85 weight percent water, about 5 to about 30 dry weight percent of one or more binders, up to about 10 dry weight percent of one or more flavorants, at least about 0.5 dry weight percent a buffering agent that buffers within a pH range of about 6 to about 10, and at least about 0.1 dry weight percent of an additive selected from the group consisting of lysine, glycine, histidine, alanine, methionine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, proline, phenylalanine, valine, arginine, cysteine, asparaginase, and combinations thereof, to form a moist tobacco mixture;
• (ii) forming the moist tobacco mixture into a desired product shape;
• and
• (iii) heating the moist tobacco mixture at a temperature of at least about 100° C. in order to produce a dried smokeless tobacco product having a moisture content of no more than about 10 weight percent and an acrylamide content of less than about 2000 ppb, wherein the pH of the moist tobacco mixture during the heating step is less than about 10.