The FDA demanded 44 vape pod types be removed from store shelves

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FDA demands 44 vape pod types be removed from store shelves - INSIDER


The FDA said these products "do not have the required marketing authorization, and thus cannot be legally sold in the United States."
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• The Food and Drug Administration told the manufacturers of 44 vape pod and hookah products they must stop selling the items immediately.
• The FDA found these products were being illegally sold since the FDA never authorized them.
• The FDA said this announcement is part of an "ongoing, aggressive effort to investigate and take action against illegally marketed tobacco products amid the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use in America."
• Vaping has been recently linked to seizures and lung infections.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

Following recent reports that suggest vaping from e-cigarettes is linked to seizures and lung infections, the Food and Drug Administration told manufacturers of 44 vape pod and hookah products they must stop selling the items immediately.

The FDA said these products " do not have the required marketing authorization, and thus cannot be legally sold in the United States" and that their call for action is part of the agency's "ongoing, aggressive effort to investigate and take action against illegally marketed tobacco products amid the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use in America."

The four companies that sell these products are Mighty Vapors LLC (doing business as Ovo Manufacturing & Distribution), Liquid Labs USA LLC (doing business as Likido Labs USA), V8P Juice International LLC, and Hookah Imports Inc.

People have reported seizures and lung infections after vaping

While the FDA notice has to do with companies' marketing practices, not vapes' potential health risks, the move follows reports of people who had seizures and developed lung infections after vaping.

In April, the FDA released an investigation that found 35 people reported having seizures following e-cigarette use between 2010 and early 2019.

Read more: Scientists have found even stronger evidence that vaping is exposing teens to toxic chemicals

"While 35 cases may not seem like much compared to the total number of people using e-cigarettes, we are nonetheless concerned by these reported cases. We also recognize that not all of the cases may be reported," the administration's press release said.

Then, in July, a total of 14 people in Wisconsin and Illinois were hospitalized with lung infections after vaping. Officials on these cases were unable to confirm what substances the people vaped or what vape brands they used, INSIDER previously reported.

The contents of vape pods have become increasingly concerning to experts
As more research on the contents of e-liquid vape pods comes out, scientists and health officials have grown increasingly concerned about the chemicals in these pods and their potential health effects on users.

A March 2018 study, for example, found that e-cigarettes expose users to hazardous chemicals also found in manufacturing products like Styrofoam or acids.

Additionally, a recent study from Yale University researchers found that certain flavors of pods from popular manufacturer Juul contained throat-irritating chemicals that weren't listed on the pods' packaging, likely because these reactions were unintended.

"When manufacturers prep these e-liquids, we think they didn't give much thought to the reactions that would occur," lead researcher Hanno Erythropel previously told INSIDER.

This new data suggests vaping products aren't as harmless as manufacturers may make them out to be.

 

In other news, 50 people died from a heart attack moments after consuming Dihydrogen Monoxide...