Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings to 30 retailers and one distributor for illegally selling Puff and Hyde brand disposable vapes, according to a Wednesday press release.
• The companies in question were among hundreds of retailers and distributors whose stores or websites were investigated recently by the agency. They have 15 working days to correct the violations or further action may be taken.
• This comes in the wake of warning letters sent to Shenzen Innokin Technology Co. and Breeze Smoke, makers of Esco Bars and Breeze vape products, respectively, last week. None of the items being targeted have marketing authorization from the FDA.

Dive Insight:

In the last week, the FDA has set its sights squarely on some of the biggest names in the disposable vaping space, targeting many popular brands of unapproved e-cigarette items.

The FDA also noted that Puff Bar and Hyde were the first and third most commonly used vaping products among underage smokers, according to its 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

The agency has previously sent two warning letters to Puff Bar for illegally marketing its products. The first, in July 2020, mentioned Puff Bar and Puff Bar Plus items, while the second in October 2022 specified Puff Flow and Puff Max items. Both letters noted that the list of items was not exhaustive.

While the FDA cracks down on disposable e-cigarette devices from both the manufacturing and retailing side, it’s also working through its enormous backlog of applications. The agency has approved just a handful of vaping products so far under three brands: NJOY, which is now owned by Altria; Vuse, which is owned by R.J. Reynold; and Logic, which is owned by Japan Tobacco International. It has also denied thousands of applications.