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• Posted March 11, 2026

FDA May Allow Some Flavored Vapes Aimed at Adults

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may allow some flavored e-cigarettes back on the market, but there’s a catch.

They would be marketed to adults, not teens.

Under guidance released Monday, the FDA said it may consider approving vape flavors such as mint, coffee, tea and spices like clove or cinnamon. But it will continue rejecting sweet or fruit-flavored products, which officials said are more appealing to teenagers.

Flavored e-cigarettes have been at the center of debate for years, and with many MAGA voters embracing them, the Trump White House views vaping as an election issue. In 2019, vaping among high school students rose sharply, leading federal officials to call it an epidemic.

Later that year, the Trump administration banned most flavored vaping products.

Since then, surveys have shown that teen vaping has dropped significantly, but concerns about youth nicotine persist.

While some folks in the vaping industry had hoped the new policy would open the door to more flavors and products, Mitch Zeller, a former FDA tobacco official, told The New York Times that companies expecting approval may be disappointed.

“If I was the e-cigarette industry and I was expecting that this was going to be a new day for the agency’s consideration of candy and fruit and dessert flavored e-cigarettes, I would be disappointed with this guidance document,” he said.

Public health groups also criticized the plan.

“Allowing any flavors on the market benefits only corporations and harms public health,” said Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, managing attorney for the public health group Action on Smoking & Health. “That is not a gamble we should be willing to take.”

Meanwhile, Luis Pinto, a spokesman for Reynolds American, told The Times that the company supports “safer nicotine alternatives” that help adult smokers switch from cigarettes.

The market for illegal flavored vapes remains massive. Industry estimates suggest about 70% of e-cigarette sales in the U.S. come from illicit products.

Some of these devices resemble everyday objects such as highlighters, jewelry or video-game gadgets, making them easier to conceal.

Health experts say nicotine can be especially harmful for young people, because it increases the risk of addiction and may cause chronic respiratory issues.

Ranjana Caple, director of federal advocacy at the American Lung Association, said the new policy could give tobacco companies another way to market flavored products.

“We’ve seen this playbook before — tobacco companies once promoted ‘light’ and ‘low tar’ cigarettes to get around health concerns, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them rebrand or tweak products to fit these new categories,” she said in a report from The Times.

Some researchers also questioned how the FDA would decide which flavors appeal to adults versus teens.

Adam Leventhal, a public health scientist at the University of Southern California, said the lines could be blurry.

“How do you operationalize what is a coffee flavor versus mocha Frappuccino flavor?” he said.

More information

The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation — no-smoke.org — has more on the risks and dangers of e-cigarettes.

SOURCE: The New York Times, March 9, 2026