Several supermarkets in the UK have removed a vape device from their stores after tests revealed that it exceeded the legal nicotine limit by at least 50%.
The Elf Bar 600 line, which is the best-selling vape device in the UK, is being pulled from shelves, as well as another Elf Bar product, the Lost Mary vape, which accounts for one in four vapes sold in the UK and was found to be up to 80% over the legal nicotine limit.
England’s chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, has called for a clampdown on the “appalling” marketing of vapes to children, specifically naming Elf Bar, whose 600 and Lost Mary vapes account for eight in ten disposable vapes sold in the UK.
Anti-smoking group Ash found last year that over half of 11 to 17-year-olds who admitted trying vaping said they used an Elf Bar, despite the sale of vapes being illegal to under-18s.
After the Mail newspaper exposed that the Elf Bar 600 range had up to 3.2ml of nicotine liquid, Elf Bar admitted it had “fallen short in some areas” and agreed to withdraw all non-compliant 600 vapes.
However, further tests on five samples of a Double Apple flavour Lost Mary bought from a Sainsbury’s found them to have an average of 3.6ml of nicotine liquid, while five Watermelon Ice flavoured Lost Mary vapes bought in Asda were found to have an average of 3.2ml.
Sainsbury’s and Asda have confirmed that they were stripping the Lost Mary vapes after the Mail alerted them to the results. While vape manufacturers must register details of their products like the nicotine liquid level to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they can be sold in the UK, the MHRA doesn’t carry out any tests of the vapes during this product registration.
The MHRA only acts if they are alerted that a product is breaking the law, for example, by including nicotine liquid that exceeds the regulatory limit.
Andrew Bush, professor of paediatrics at Imperial College London, described the test results as “appalling” and said it was “deeply disturbing” that users didn’t know what they were taking.
Chris Allen, the chief executive of the Broughton lab that conducted the tests, said that the regulators would need to get on top of this quickly and that he would like to see strong action by the regulators, like removal of the limit-exceeding products, complete testing of products, and destruction of non-compliant products.
Elf Bar did not respond to a request for comment about the Lost Mary tests, but the company previously said that its products are safe and that it would investigate all vape product exports to the UK.
»UK supermarkets remove vape device from shelf after it was found to be 50% over nicotine limit«
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