Vape maker to ditch bright-coloured products and rename flavours

Vape maker Supreme has said it will stop making brightly coloured products, use plain packaging and bring in “age-appropriate” flavour names.

It comes after the government promised to crack down on the marketing of vaping products to children.

Supreme said its items would become “plain black, white or grey” and promised it was “fully committed to eradicating underage vaping”.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said the marketing of vapes makes them “look like sweets” despite them being illegal to sell to under-18s.

An eight-week consultation is considering options such as a total ban on disposable vapes, restricting their sale and stopping flavours and colours that appeal to youngsters.

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On-the-spot fines could also be issued to shops that illegally sell vapes.

‘Shelf appeal’ to be reduced

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According to figures from the charity Action on Smoking and Health, the number of children using vapes in the past three years has tripled, with 20.5% of youngsters aged between 11 and 17 having tried vaping in 2023.

Supreme said “shelf appeal for underage vapers” would be reduced by renaming flavours.

For example, Peach Dream will become Peach and Sweet Strawberry will become just Strawberry.

The items themselves will also no longer use bright colours to try to reduce their appeal to under-18s.

Labour vows to come down ‘like a ton of bricks’

Supreme’s products are sold in a range of shops – from discounters, such as Home Bargains, B&M and Poundland, to supermarkets.

However, the changes will only affect its own 88Vape brand and not those it imports, such as ElfBar and Liberty Flights.

Labour has warned it will come down on the vaping companies “like a ton of bricks” if it wins power.

Vapes ‘critical’ to help smokers quit

Supreme chief executive Sandy Chadha said the company still believed vapes were “critical” in helping smokers to quit.

But he said he was “desperate to ensure that those flavours do not spark any interest in younger people”.

Mr Chadha said the firm fully supported any new laws and that it would remove or change products “that could be deemed compromising”.

“As government guidance evolves, we may seek to re-assess this approach,” he added.

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England’s chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, has said that while vaping is less dangerous than smoking, it “still has risks and can cause addiction”.

There is also concern over the environmental impact as an estimated five million disposable vapes are discarded every week in the UK.

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