The US has announced a countrywide ban on some e-cigarette flavours amid concerns about vaping among teens.<\/p>\n
The ban applies to mint and fruit flavours that are offered in cartridge-based e-cigarettes, like the popular pods sold by Juul.<\/p>\n
The US will continue to allow menthol and tobacco flavours, as well as fruit flavours delivered in other ways.<\/p>\n
The action has been under consideration for more than a year<\/a>, with several states passing similar rules.<\/p>\n South Korea, India, Brazil are among the dozens of countries that have announced sweeping vaping bans. Others, like China, have announced restrictions.<\/p>\n Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the Trump administration wanted to continue to offer adults an alternative to traditional cigarettes, while responding to concerns about growing addiction to a new product among teens.<\/p>\n “By prioritizing enforcement against the products that are most widely used by children, our action today seeks to strike the right public health balance,” he said.<\/p>\n Fifty-five people have died and more than 2,500 people have been hospitalised with injuries linked to vaping, US health regulators say.<\/p>\n Investigators have said they believe vitamin E acetate, which is sometimes added to marijuana vaping products, is playing a role.<\/p>\n Citing the crisis, President Trump said in September the US would ban all e-cigarette flavours except tobacco, but the administration loosened its position after pushback from the industry.<\/p>\n “We have to protect our families. At the same time, it’s a big industry. We want to protect the industry,” Mr Trump said this week.<\/p>\n Juul, the biggest e-cigarette company in the US, had already pulled its flavoured pods from the market, but Thursday’s action forces competitors to make a similar move, within 30 days.<\/p>\n Advocates for stricter rules have said that teens will switch to menthol if other options are eliminated.<\/p>\n But officials said they would take steps against menthol and tobacco flavoured e-cigarettes if the Food and Drug Administration sees that their use among teens is rising.<\/p>\n The US also recently raised the age for purchasing tobacco products to 21. E-cigarettes are also governed by those rules.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Big industry’<\/h2>\n