Leading vape brand Elfbar ditches its most popular ‘highly-addictive’ flavours to ‘stop kids getting hooked’
LEADING vape company Elfbar and it’s sister brand Lost Mary will ditch dessert and soft drink-flavoured products, over fears they’re getting kids hooked on the habit.
Cola and gummy bear flavours have been criticised for tempting children.
It come after the government pledged to enforce a major crackdown on vape companies marketing products towards children, launching a public consultation on whether sweet e-cig flavours should be banned.
The consultation is due to close on December 6.
Elfbar and Lost Mary have soared in popularity, dominating more than half of disposable vape sales in the UK, according to data firm NielsenIQ.
While the devices have been touted as a healthier alternative to smoking, companies have faced criticism over peddling sweet flavours that appeal to children.
Elfbar has already pulled flavours such as Bubble Gum, Cotton Candy, and Rainbow Candy and it’s expected more will be cut.
It also renamed Gummy Bear to Gummy, though it looks like the company will ditch this flavour too under its new plans.
A spokesperson told the BBC that the changes might take some time to filter through the supply chain, so it may be a while before dessert and soft drink flavours disappear from shelves.
Elfbar separately called for a tougher rules on vape sales, including a licensing regime similar that for cigarettes and alcohol.
This could mean sellers needing a licence to sell vapes and products being displayed behind the counter.
“The introduction of such a regime would mitigate children’s access to vapes and make it easier for the authorities to better regulate the sale of vaping devices. Furthermore, we believe it would help combat the growing illicit vape market and drive increased rates of vape recycling,” an Elfbar spokesman told the BBC.
But the company argued against the introduction of a new tax on vapes similar to that for tobacco, claiming it would encourage former smokers to switch to illegal vape or go back on cigarettes.
Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said: “It is no surprise that Elf Bar have failed to strike this balance in their recommendations with a series of half measures that will fail to adequately protect children”.
In a survey this year, ASH found that half of of 11 to 17-year-olds who had tried vapes had tried an Elfbar, and 25 per cent had tried Lost Mary.
Proposals for a tax on vapes were snuck into the small print of the King’s Speech earlier this month.
Ministers vowed to take “action on the affordability of vapes, including exploring a new duty on vapes as other countries have done”.
Meanwhile, Tory MP Craig Whittaker told The Sun schools should be made to tell parents if their child is caught vaping.