The US Food and Drug Administration has told four companies to remove 44 of their flavoured e-liquid and hookah tobacco products that do not have the required approval for sale in the US, the agency is quoted in Reuters Health as saying. The move comes against the backdrop of the FDA’s efforts to curb the usage of the addictive substances among young adults.
The FDA said the products had been introduced into the market after the effective date of a rule that extended FDA’s authority to all tobacco products, thereby making them adulterated or misbranded.
The report says e-cigarettes have existed in a regulatory grey area for years and a US federal judge in July ordered the FDA to implement a 10-month deadline for submitting a formal application by e-cigarette makers to keep their products on the market.
E-cigarettes are generally thought to be safer than traditional cigarettes, but the long-term health effects of the nicotine devices remain largely unknown, the report says.
[link url="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-vaping/fda-tells-four-firms-to-stop-selling-flavored-e-cigarette-hookah-products-idUSKCN1UY1U2"]Reuters Health report[/link]
[link url="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-notifies-four-companies-remove-44-flavored-e-liquid-and-hookah-tobacco-products-market-not"]FDA announcement[/link]