In April 2022 Congress moved to give the FDA the authority to restrict disposable flavored e-cigarettes popular with children.
Almost a year on, the agency has still not done so.
Now, a convenience store selling dozens of flavors of Puff bars and Hyde bars – including watermelon bubblegum and strawberry kiwi – is located just 250 yards from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Washington, D.C. area.
White Oak convenience store sits roughly 660 feet from the edge of the FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland and offers a variety of disposable flavored e-cigs, including Puff Bars, Elf Bars, and True Bars.
The FDA sent a warning letter to Puff Bar in October, but it’s not clear it has not exercised the same authority it used to ban flavored Juul pods from store shelves years ago.
The back-and-forth over flavored e-cigarettes has left the FDA playing catchup as manufacturers find new work-arounds to avoid taking their product off the market.
A convenience store selling dozens of flavors of Puff bars and Hyde bars – including watermelon bubblegum and strawberry kiwi – is located just 250 years from the FDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. area
Store offers a variety of disposable flavored e-cigs, including Puff Bars, Elf Bars, and True Bars
In early 2020 the FDA under President Trump prohibited flavored e-cigarette cartridges like Juul pods in a massive upset to young vape smokers everywhere. The move came after a viral scare over ‘popcorn lung’ that some attributed to vaping.
That ban did not prohibit the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, thus giving rise to popular flavored vapes like Elf Bar and Puff Bar, which kids and young adults then turned to.
Puff Bar soared in popularity and profit, reaching more than $170 million in sales in 2020
In July 2020 the FDA ordered Puff Bar off the market, saying it did not get the needed authorization to be sold as tobacco products that popped up after 2016 had to get clearance from the FDA before going on sale.
But in 2021, Puff Bar found a workaround and was back on the market. It came up with a new synthetic nicotine formula that put it beyond the reach of the FDA tobacco regulators. Other products followed Puff Bar’s lead.
In April 2022 Congress voted on a bipartisan basis to close the loophole and hand the FDA the authority to regulate synthetic nicotine.
Meanwhile, youth usage of e-cigarettes has ticked down after an all-time high but usage of disposable vapor products is up nearly 2,000 percent since 2019, according to CDC’s National Youth Tobacco Study.
More flavored disposable vapes pictured behind the counter
White Oak convenience store sits roughly 660 feet from the edge of the FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland
As of 2022 14.1 percent of high school students and 3.3 percent of middle school students self-reported regular e-cigarette use – some 2.55 million kids. Flavored e-cigarettes still dominate the market among kids – more than half of young e-cigarette users report using the disposable kind.
According to the CDC Puff Bar was the brand of choice for nearly a third of middle and high school e-cigarette users.
‘These numbers confirm that the e-cigarette epidemic in our country is far from over,’ Linda Neff, the chief of the epidemiology branch of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said according to NBC News. ‘Our work is far from done.
‘What is even more disturbing is the frequency of use,’ she added. ‘Among those who currently use e-cigarettes, more than 1 in 4 use them daily.’
Nearly half of high school teens said they vape every day.
Meanwhile a recent study found that in some cases the nicotine content of certain disposables is mislabeled, having a concentration sometimes 1.5 times higher than the label.
A single disposable device can pack the nicotine of an entire pack of cigarettes. Mojo brand states that its product ‘is equal to approximately 20 cigarettes.’
As of July 13, 2022, synthetic nicotine tobacco products are supposed to have a marketing order form the FDA to be sold, but many such products are still on the market.
An FDA spokesperson noted the agency in October issued a warning letter to Puff Bar for selling and receiving its products in the U.S. without market authorization and requested a response within 15 days. But as the company notes on its website, the products are still fully on the market.
‘Failure to promptly address any violations puts the manufacturer at risk of regulatory action such as a civil money penalty, product seizure, and/or injunction,’ the FDA said at the time.
‘No, Puff Bars aren’t banned. No, they’re not illegal to buy. No, they’re not discontinued — and no, they’re not gone,’ Puff Bar has written on its website.
The company on its website sells dozens of kid-friendly flavors – banana ice, sour apple, lemon razz.
The FDA also said it has taken action against Hyde brand, issuing marketing denial orders for 32 Hyde e-cigarettes. But flavors like strawberry guava ice and mango are still listed on Hyde’s website.
‘FDA remains vigilant in overseeing the market, by both reviewing applications submitted for marketing of e-cigarette products and using our compliance and enforcement resources to remove illegal products, including disposables, from the market,’ a spokesperson said.
