Released by the Florida Consumer e-Newsletter …
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have issued warning letters to four firms that sell flavored e-liquid products for violations related to online posts by social media influencers on each company’s behalf. The warning letters are just one aspect of the FDA’s Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan designed to limit youth access to all tobacco products, with a particular focus on youth e-cigarette use.
Social media influencers are individuals with a large number of online followers that often help to promote products on behalf of certain brands or companies. Through social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, influencers on behalf of Solace Vapor, Hype City Vapors LLC, Humble Juice Co. LLC and Artist Liquid Labs posted content touting the flavored e-liquid products or recommending their social media followers try the products without including the required nicotine warning statement.
The FDA has determined that the e-liquid products labeled and/or advertised on behalf of the companies in these social media posts are misbranded because they fail to include the statement, “WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical,” a requirement that the FDA has enforced since August 10, 2018. The FTC joined the FDA on the warning letters under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising.
More than 3.6 million middle and high school students across the country were current e-cigarette users in 2018, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a dramatic increase of 1.5 million students from the previous year. The data also showed that youth who used e-cigarettes also were using them more frequently, and they were using flavored e-cigarette products more often.
The increased popularity of e-cigarettes among youth raises a number of other health concerns: risk of addiction to nicotine early on in life; potential harm from nicotine exposure to the developing adolescent brain; and exposure to chemicals associated with adverse health effects. In addition, research shows that, compared with non-users, youth who use e-cigarettes are more likely to transition to conventional cigarettes – risking a lifetime of addiction to smoking and smoking-attributable diseases.
To address this growing use among kids, over the past year the FDA has taken enforcement actions to combat the illegal sales of e-cigarettes to youth, and other actions to target kid-friendly marketing that increases the appeal of these products to youth.
From April 2018 through April 2019, the FDA issued more than 3,950 warning letters and more than 665 civil money penalties (fines) to brick-and-mortar and online retailers for illegal sales of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) and e-liquid products to minors. The FDA also took actions – many in conjunction with FTC – against more than 15 firms for selling e-liquids that resemble kid-friendly foods, such as juice boxes, cereal and candy; and the FDA continues to investigate whether companies are introducing new e-cigarettes in violation of premarket authorization requirements.
Last year, the FDA also launched “The Real Cost” Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign – a comprehensive effort targeting nearly 10.7 million youth, aged 12-17, who have used e-cigarettes or are open to trying them. The campaign features hard-hitting advertising on digital and social media sites popular among teens, as well as posters with e-cigarette prevention messages in high schools across the nation. The FDA also joined forces with Scholastic to expand distribution of youth e-cigarette prevention posters to every public and private high school in the U.S. and released new resources for doctors, youth groups, churches, state and local public health agencies, and others on the dangers of youth e-cigarette use.
The FDA has also undertaken efforts to further the discussion and understanding around how we can help aid those kids who are already addicted to the nicotine in e-cigarettes to quit. For more information, visit www.FDA.gov or www.Consumer.FTC.gov and search for the term “e-cigarettes.”