Will The Vape Industry Be Vaporized By FDA? Decisions Could Reshape Vaping

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday reached the deadline for its review over whether some e-cigarette brands will be able to stay on the market or be banned.

The FDA has faced pressure to decide by Sept. 9 if products from different vaping brands are “appropriate for the protection of public health.” The decision is expected to reshape the roughly $15 billion industry.

A new vision on vaping is to make it safe for current smokers but not appealing to non-smokers. Some argue that flavored vapes were luring consumers who would otherwise not smoke nicotine at all.

Around 500 companies filed applications to the FDA for review. Vape product manufacturers had to prove with scientific evidence that such products are less harmful than smoking cigarettes and that cigarette smokers would be more likely to stop smoking with vaping as an alternative.

The FDA has blocked the sale of 55,000 products from smaller companies that did not meet the standards. As the deadline approached, more products have been getting banned.

“Many vaping products are produced by smaller companies that don’t have the resources to thoroughly answer FDA’s scientific questions about safety,” Ken Warner, a professor emeritus of public health and tobacco control at the University of Michigan, told Politico.

Major decisions await the largest vape companies, which include Juul, Vuse and Njoy. These large companies do have the financial resources to get the proper research done to get cleared by the FDA.

These three main e-cigarette companies had cut flavored-fruity “pods” from their sales altogether when vaping regulations got strict for being too inviting for non-smokers in order to stay afloat.

Earlier this year, Njoy submitted a flavor for review that the FDA is still reviewing. The agency has warned manufacturers to expect stricter control on the way products are marketed and sold if authorized to remain on the market.

“The agency is weighing whether to allow Reynolds, NJOY and others to resume selling fruit-flavored cartridges. Juul submitted only tobacco- and menthol-flavored refill pods for FDA review,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

It has been argued that a flavor can help smokers quit smoking cigarettes.

All vape companies have been under review and the FDA can still cut any of the companies altogether. The FDA is expected to “seek more time before deciding" for some of the market's largest companies, according to the Journal.