As the FDA Tightens Regulation on Pod-Based E-Cigarettes, Disposable Vape Sales Surge
Industry expert Jim McDonald said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has focused on restricting major mainstream brands, pod-based vaping devices, and flavored e-cigarette products. This has created a gray market opportunity for lesser-known disposable
Industry expert Jim McDonald stated that the focus of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to prevent the sale of well-known mainstream brands and pod-based e-cigarette products, as well as fruit-flavored e-cigarette products, which has created a gray market for lesser-known disposable e-cigarette brands.
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McDonald cited data from Chicago market research firm IRI in a piece for Vaping360, showing that sales of disposable e-cigarettes in the U.S. have grown from less than 2% of the convenience store e-cigarette market three years ago to 33%.<\/div>
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The growth of the disposable market is a direct result of FDA actions. In January 2020, the agency banned most flavored e-cigarettes. However, the policy allows all flavors to be sold in non-pod devices designed for disposal after the flavored nicotine is depleted.<\/div>
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In 2018, the then-market leader Juul Labs was forced to withdraw most of its flavored pods from the market in response to concerns about youth vaping.<\/div>
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The crackdown on flavored products sold in regulated markets coincided with the growth of the disposable gray market, which regulators and national news media are largely unaware of regarding these disposable e-cigarette brands.<\/div>
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Currently popular disposable e-cigarettes have not received FDA authorization, although some disposable manufacturers have submitted premarket tobacco product applications, and some have challenged FDA marketing denial orders (MDO) in court or through FDA administrative appeals.<\/div>
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McDonald stated that these developments are a bad omen for e-cigarette policies in the U.S. and elsewhere. He wrote: “Those who submit applications and make good faith efforts to comply with the agency's regulations will receive MDOs and warning letters, while gray market sellers will change their product names and mock the clumsy regulators.” <\/span><\/div>
