U.S. health officials are cracking down on a brand of fruit-flavored disposable e-cigarettes that is popular with teens, saying the company never received permission to sell them in the U.S.
The Food and Drug Administration sent a letter Monday telling the company to remove Puff Bar e-cigarettes from the market within 15 business days, including flavors like mango, pink lemonade, and strawberry. The agency sent warning letters to nine other companies, either selling similar unauthorized e-cigarettes or nicotine solutions that illegally appeal to children. Some of those mimic candy and cereal packaging like Twinkies and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
The regulatory action comes months after vaping advocates warned that disposable vapors like the Puff Bar were an obvious loophole in the FDA’s ban on flavored e-cigarettes. That policy, which went into effect in February, focused closely on reusable vaping devices such as Juul, the successful brand that helped unleash the teen vaping craze in the US According to the policy, only menthol flavors were allowed and tobacco for those devices. But the flavor restrictions did not apply to disposable vaping products like Puff Bar.
Puff Bar vendor Cool Clouds Distribution of Glendale, California did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday afternoon.
Anti-vaping groups had asked the company to recall all disposable vaping products, warning that they had caught teens who previously used discontinued Juul flavors like mint and mango.
For months, the FDA has been consumed with the coronavirus outbreak, reviewing new tests and treatments. Earlier this year, the agency suspended in-person inspections of steam and convenience stores aimed at enforcing sales restrictions. At the end of last year, the US raised the legal age to buy e-cigarettes and all other tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21 years.
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