Nearly one in five 11-to-17-year-olds in Britain have tried vaping, according to a poll conducted on behalf of the charity Action on Smoking and Health – a figure the government says is fuelled by colourful packaging and enticing flavour names such as those linked to sweets, desserts and alcohol.
Under UK-wide plans announced by the Department of Health and Social Care, vapes would be sold in plain packaging, device colours would be limited to white, black or grey, and products would be moved out of sight in shops. Flavour descriptions would also be restricted, allowing simple names like “apple” while banning those that reference confectionery, sweets, desserts and alcohol.
“UK plans to ban colourful vape packaging and sweet flavours to stop children from vaping, with a consultation launched.”
Health Secretary James Murray said the government was launching a 100-day consultation on “our plans to make vaping less attractive for children and young people”. He said: “The evidence is clear: there are too many young people experimenting with vapes, attracted by the array of flavours, bright colours and marketing displays. We must act now to reduce the appeal of addictive vapes to our children.”
Murray stressed that vapes are less harmful than cigarettes and can help adult smokers quit, “but they should never be designed or marketed in ways that tempt children”. The consultation follows the recent passing of the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which creates the UK’s first smoke-free generation by banning cigarette sales to anyone born after 1 January 2009, and gives powers to ban vaping in cars carrying children, in playgrounds, outside schools and at hospitals.
Prof Steve Turner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, welcomed the move. “For those of us working with children every day, it is clear that only strong and meaningful regulation will protect them from the harms associated with nicotine addiction,” he said. Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, added: “Protecting children from harmful vape marketing is the right thing to do. Attractive, colourful branding and images have driven the appeal of vapes to children leading to an increase in use.”
The consultation also proposes inserts for cigarette packs telling smokers where to get help to quit and plans to enforce plain packaging on all tobacco products, including rolling paper and cigars. Officials said the move follows the success of standardised packaging for cigarettes since 2017.