FDA authorizes fruit-flavored e-cigarettes for adults in major shift under Trump

WASHINGTON - On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its first authorization of fruit-flavored electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, intended for adult smokers. 

The move is a major policy shift that comes after months of appeals to President Donald Trump from the vaping industry.

FDA OKs fruit-flavored e-cigarettes

Big picture view:

According to the FDA, the newly authorized e-cigarettes come in the flavors: mango, blueberry and two varieties of menthol. 

Los Angeles-based vaping company Glas Inc. plans to market the flavors under the names Gold, Sapphire, Classic Menthol and Fresh Menthol, according to the agency’s release.

Previously, the FDA had only granted permission to tobacco or menthol-flavored vaping products. 

Vaping companies say e-cigarettes can blunt the toll of smoking

Dig deeper:

Vaping companies have long made the case that their products can help blunt the toll of smoking among adults, which is blamed for 480,000 U.S. deaths annually due to cancer, lung disease and heart disease. 

But the FDA reiterated that Tuesday's announcement is not an approval or endorsement, and that the Glas vapes are only intended for adults interested in quitting or cutting back on cigarettes.

The FDA also suggested the company's digital age-verification system makes it unlikely the products will be picked up by underage users. Users must first verify their age with a government ID on their cellphone. The e-cigarettes can then only be used when connected via Bluetooth to the phone of the verified user.

What they're saying:

"By helping to prevent youth use, device access restrictions are a potential game changer," Bret Koplow, the acting director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement. "This technology is also an indication of the role innovation may serve in the effort to protect young people from threats posed by nicotine use and addiction while helping to enable availability of an expanded array of flavored options for adults who smoke who may use these products to completely switch away from regular cigarettes."

FDA says it will monitor how fruit-flavored e-cigarettes are marketed

What's next:

The FDA said it will closely monitor how these products are marketed and will act if the company fails to comply with any applicable statutory or regulatory requirements. 

The FDA noted that it may suspend or withdraw authorization if the agency determines that continued marketing of the authorized products is no longer appropriate for the protection of the public health, including if there is a notable increase in use of the products among youth, or evidence that the benefits of the products no longer outweigh the risks.

 Kathy Crosby of the Truth Initiative, an anti-tobacco nonprofit, said the FDA’s authorization of the new fruity products will be "a key test case."

"Ultimately, it’s critical that we remain vigilant in protecting young people, including closely monitoring the use of authorized products," Crosby said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.

Some studies have suggested that vaping (e-cigarettes) can help some smokers quit, but the evidence is still mixed and debated.

RELATED: Study: Vaping causes more inflammation in lungs than regular cigarettes

Many health experts say that vaping is likely less harmful than smoking cigarettes, but that it is not risk-free and still addictive.

According to one study, published in 2023 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, researchers found significantly more inflammation in the lungs of people who used e-cigarettes than people who smoked regular cigarettes and non-smokers.

Previous crackdown on fruit-flavored e-cigarettes

The backstory:

The battery-powered vaping devices have been sold in the U.S. since 2007, but their potential benefits have been overshadowed for years by uptake among middle and high school students.

According to a 2024 survey, teen vaping rates have dropped to a 10-year low and manufacturers have pushed the Republican administration to loosen restrictions on their products.

The vast majority of U.S. teens who vape continue to use unauthorized fruit- and candy-flavored products, according to the latest government data. Those products are technically illegal but remain widely available in cheap, disposable brands typically imported from China.

Most e-cigarettes OK'd by regulators come from large manufacturers, including Juul and Altria.

Timeline:

The news comes years after the Trump administration declared a crackdown on kid-friendly flavors. 

In 2018, FDA officials declared teen vaping an "epidemic," pointing to rising use of Juul, Reynolds American’s Vuse and other brands.

Within weeks, FDA investigators conducted an unannounced inspection of Juul’s headquarters. Congressional committees launched investigations, collecting hundreds of thousands of company documents.

During his first administration, Trump put in place the first flavor restrictions on e-cigarettes and raised the age for purchasing all tobacco products from 18 to 21.

By October 2019, Juul had dropped most of its flavors and discontinued all advertising.

In early 2020, the FDA restricted flavors in cartridge-based reusable e-cigarettes like Juul to just menthol and tobacco, which were more popular with adults. But the flavor restriction didn’t apply to disposable e-cigarettes, which are thrown away after use.

In March, the FDA released its first-ever guidance to industry on flavors, stating that menthol, coffee, mint and spice flavors could have a role in appealing to adult smokers. The same document also reiterated the risks of sweeter flavors that tend to appeal to teens, such as fruit, candy and dessert flavors.