| Section | Link to Section |
|---|---|
| Google Searches | Modern Google Searches |
| Disposables | The FDA's Game Of Tug-Of-War Over Disposables |
Three distributors of vape products received warning letters from the FDA yesterday directing them to take specific Disposable Vapes off of their online storefronts without FDA approval. The letters are the most recent bullets in the FDA's pointless assault on disposables, as is the FDA press release that goes along with them.
According to the news release, FDA Center for Tobacco Products Director Brian King stated, "FDA is committed to keeping a finger on the pulse of the rapidly evolving e-cigarette landscape, including through a variety of scientific assets equipped to quickly identify products with high youth appeal."
Modern Google Searches
However, it seems the FDA is just using Google searches to discover websites that carry the brands the agency is most concerned about, despite the agency's assertion that it uses cutting-edge enforcement methods. Distributors of cannabis products, two of the businesses that got warning letters also sell a limited range of nicotine vaping products. The trio of California-based businesses are:
These are not large distributors of nicotine-containing vaping products who could retain legal counsel and challenge FDA rulings in court. The agency appears to be focusing on smaller businesses instead, as they are more likely to discard the mentioned products amicably. (At least one of the three businesses has already taken the products from Esco and Elf Bar out of its online store.)
The businesses were cited for selling goods that were either Puff Bar (or Puff Max), Esco Bar, or Elf Bar/EBDESIGN. Nearly all of the FDA's recent enforcement actions pertaining to disposable vapes have targeted just three disposable brands.
The FDA's Game Of Tug-Of-War Over Disposables
The FDA ordered the distribution of Esco Bar and Elf Bar goods that were being held at ports of entry in mid-May. A week later, the agency ordered the makers of Breeze and Esco Bar disposables to take them off the market with warning letters. The FDA issued warnings to thirty shops for selling Hyde and Puff Bar disposables without authorization six days following those measures. The agency issued warning letters for marketing Elf Bar and Esco Bar products to 170 outlets and 19 online retailers on June 22.
After the FDA said in 2020 that it would give enforcement priority to pod- and cartridge-based vapes with flavors other than tobacco and menthol, the popularity of disposable vapes rapidly increased. Disposables accounted for 33% of the vaping product market's convenience store/gas station segment in the two years after the enforcement guidelines changed.
The tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds, whose Vuse e-cigarette products directly compete with disposable vapes at c-stores, as well as members of Congress and tobacco control organizations like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids have put increased pressure on the FDA to crack down on disposable vapes. Reynolds has launched a multifaceted strategy to combat the widely used devices.
Eight vaping devices—along with tobacco-flavored refills—have received marketing approval from the FDA since it established its regulatory authority over e-cigarettes in 2016. None of the eight are well-liked, and one (the Vuse Ciro) was subsequently withdrawn owing to poor sales. They're all produced by producers who work for large tobacco businesses.
The FDA has prohibited the sale of any goods with flavors other than tobacco and has prohibited the sale of any e-liquids in bottles that are intended to be used with open-system devices. Numerous small and medium-sized vaping producers have filed federal court challenges against the agency's marketing denial orders (MDOs).
