Poli Alert Political & Civics
Related Articles
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered Juul Labs to pull its e-cigarettes off the American market.
The FDA’s order affects all of the company’s products sold in the United States, which makes up the majority of Juul’s sales, according to The New York Times. Juul has been criticized for perpetuating teen vaping through its e-cigarettes, which come in flavors like mango and mint.
“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 Dr. Robert Califf. “The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market. We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.”
The products include the Juul vaping device and four types of Juul pods: Virginia tobacco-flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%, and menthol-flavored pods at nicotine concentrations of 5.0% and 3.0%, the FDA said.
In 2019, federal data found that more than one in four high school students had used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days, up from 11.7% just two years prior. An outbreak of vaping-related lung disease in 2020 heightened concerns about e-cigarettes.
Juul said it will appeal the FDA’s ruling, according to The New York Times, but it’s unclear where the future of the company stands. It ranks as the 10th most valuable private company in the world.
Juul’s regulatory defeat is the second dealt to the tobacco industry in recent days. The Biden administration this week said it would order cigarette makers to cut nicotine levels in an attempt to cut smoking-related deaths.
