FDA tells 180 stores to stop selling Elf Bar vapes and others

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered more than 180 stores nationwide to stop selling fruit and candy-flavored e-cigarettes.

Eleven Bars – the most popular disposable brand in the US – and Esco Bars were among those in the firing line for their appeal to teens.

The vapes are not approved for use by the FDA and have previously been linked to health problems, including lung damage and heart problems, and may lead young people to try other drugs.

Brian King, the director of the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products, warned“This latest blitz should be a wake-up call for retailers. If they wait for a personal invitation to comply, they may get it in the form of a warning letter or some other action from the FDA.”

The FDA has cracked down on the use of flavored disposable e-cigarettes like Elf Bars

During the crackdown, letters were sent to stores in as many as 30 states between June 5 and June 16 of this year following a “nationwide inspection blitz.”

Stores were told to remove the illegal products from sale immediately.

Dr. Robert Califf, the FDA’s Commissioner, said: ‘The FDA is prepared to use all its authorities to ensure that these and other illegal and youth-attractive products are kept out of the hands of children.

“We are committed to a multifaceted approach using regulation, compliance and enforcement, and education to protect our nation’s youth.”

Last month, the agency also issued orders to allow customs officials to seize shipments of Elf Bars and Esco Bars in US ports.

They also warned 30 stores about their sale of the bars.

The FDA has been trying to crack down on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes as their use among teens has skyrocketed.

This was found in a 2022 study by the agency more than nine percent of American teens use e-cigarettes.

More than 14 percent of U.S. high school students — about 2.14 million teens — currently use e-cigarettes.

More than 2.5 million US children use e-cigarettes — half a million more than last year and a reversal of the downward trend of recent years, data shows

In 2020, the FDA restricted the use of flavorings in reusable e-cigarettes to just menthol and tobacco – which are more appealing to adults.

This has led to an explosion of products in the single-use vaping industry that continue to use the flavors.

The market was originally led by Puff Bars, which sold hundreds of millions of vapes nationwide until the FDA cracked down on the company.

Sales data now shows that Elf Bars, made in China by iMiracle Shezhen, are leading the market and have become the third most popular e-cigarette nationally.

Disposable vapes now make up 52 percent of sales, compared to 24.5 percent at the beginning of 2020.

At the same time, e-cigarette popularity surged nearly 50 percent during the pandemic, driven by popular flavors.

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 7 million more e-cigarette products were sold in America in December 2022, compared to 15.5 million in January 2020 (an increase of nearly 47 percent).

While sales of menthol versions – previously the most popular flavor – fell slightly, sales of devices with fruit and sweet flavors increased from 29 percent to almost 41 percent.