Unlike cigarettes, next generation products (NGP) are available in a range of flavours. A growing body of research suggests they are important in persuading consumers to switch away from smoking and – just as importantly – not return.
Focusing on vaping, we published a review of over 230 peer-reviewed studies in the academic literature – as well as regulatory documents, and public health reports – to better understand what the science tells us about the role of flavours in tobacco harm reduction (THR).
We found the following:
Health Risks
With quality ingredients, responsible formulation, and rigorous testing, flavoured vape aerosols demonstrate favourable toxicological profiles compared to cigarette smoke.
Flavour Dependency
A range of vape flavours don’t meaningfully increase dependency potential, especially if products are marketed responsibly to intended audiences only – not never-smokers, or youth.
Adult Smoker Switching*
The science suggests flavour diversity is key to maximising switching success and reducing smoking prevalence.
*Products are not licensed as cessation products, and are not marketed as such.
Unintended Use
The evidence suggests minor levels of unintended trial and use don’t outweigh the broader public health benefits for adult smokers seeking to switch to vapes.
Flavour Bans
While well-intentioned, vaping flavour bans may have the potential to backfire, undermining THR, and broader national and global public health goals.
While adult consumer choice is important when it comes to helping facilitate THR, not all manufacturers and retailers act responsibly when it comes to offering products and flavours that are also compliant with regulations.
Inappropriate flavours, flavour names, packaging, advertisements, and NGP formats have understandably led to societal anxieties around their appeal to underage users.
We appreciate and share these concerns, and remain committed to promoting the responsible innovation and marketing of all our NGP.
Where permitted, our NGP are available in a range of flavours that our scientific research and consumer insights suggest enhances adult smoker switching.
However, we also recognise it’s crucial our flavours aren’t attractive to non-smokers – including youth – s0 we develop and market them responsibly.
To help facilitate public health wins, NGP not only need to be scientifically substantiated to be less harmful than cigarettes; they also need to be satisfying, accepted, and adopted by significant numbers of existing adult smokers.
Use by unintended audiences can severely undermine their broader public heath potential.
The regulation of flavours is therefore a delicate balancing act. To realise the public health benefit through THR, it’s necessary to maximise adult smoker transitioning away from tobacco by offering varied NGP experiences, while simultaneously minimising the likelihood these products also attract never smokers.
There are practical and enforceable steps to help achieve this and we have consistently advocated for risk-proportionate NGP regulation that encourages smokers to transition away from smoking – with a range of flavours at their core.
We’re committed to continuing to gather insights, publish research, and engage with regulators and public health on this vital topic.
Thomas Nahde
Head of Harm Reduction & Engagement
