An oral smokeless tobacco product comprises bleached tobacco raw material with less than about 4 weight-% fermentable carbohydrates, calculated on dry total weight of the bleached tobacco raw material, with an ISO brightness not less than about 60； nicotine selected from nicotine from tobacco plants and/or synthetic nicotine； and an alginate composition. The alginate composition is distributed in the product and comprises at least water, alginate and an added substance intended to be released from the product when used. The composition contains an alginate matrix that retains at least a major proportion of the added substance so long as the matrix is intact, the alginate matrix being formed so as to disintegrate and/or dissolve in the chemical and physical environment existing in a user's mouth. The alginate contains an alginate salt of monovalent cations and is soluble in cold water. The product has a water content of 5 to 55%.
