June 27, 2023

Alexandria, VA – Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (CASE) released the following statement in response to an Associated Press story that reveals how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s missteps have created a massive U.S. market for illegal, disposable e-cigarettes that are made in China and marketed to American kids in youth-enticing flavors. 

“The Associated Press report is an indictment of the FDA’s abject failure to prevent illegal, flavored, China-made disposable vapes from getting into the hands of American kids and teens. Manufacturers in China have exploited loopholes in FDA policy to flood the U.S. market, which has resulted in ‘more than 5,800 unique disposable products…now being sold in numerous flavors and formulations…up 1,500% from 365 in early 2020,’ according to the report. The FDA’s slow, unclear, and inconsistent response to an epidemic of its own making is putting the health and safety of all Americans at risk. The FDA must take action to eliminate the threat by leading and working with state and local enforcement partners to get illegal, disposable, foreign-made vapes in kid-friendly flavors off the shelves.”