US bans popular vaping brand amid safety concerns

The Food and Drink Administration (FDA) in the US said that it had insufficient information to ensure that the Juul vaping products are “appropriate for the protection of public health”.

It said it had concerns about potentially chemical potentially leaching from the pods used in the devices.

A court order has banned the sale of all Juul products currently marketed in the US, which include the Juul device and four types of Juul pods.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned Juul products in the US.

Juul products are widely sold in Scotland and the rest of the UK, where it is the fifth best-selling e-cigarette, with sales of £13.1m in 2021.

After reviewing the company’s premarket tobacco product applications, the FDA determined that the applications lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products to demonstrate that marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.

"In particular, some of the company’s study findings raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data – including regarding genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals leaching from the company’s proprietary e-liquid pods – that have not been adequately addressed and precluded the FDA from completing a full toxicological risk assessment of the products named in the company’s applications.”

“Today’s action is further progress on the FDA’s commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M Califf, MD.

“The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the US market. We recognise these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.”

Amanda Wheeler, president of trade organisation the American Vapor Manufacturing Association, said: “Measured in lives lost and potential destroyed, FDA’s staggering indifference to ordinary Americans and their right to switch to the vastly safer alternative of vaping will surely rank as one of the greatest episodes of regulatory malpractice in American history.”