According to the Wall Street Journal, US health officials are expected to order Juul Labs to stop selling e-cigarettes in the world’s largest economy.
According to the newspaper, which cited anonymous sources, the decision comes after a two-year review of the information Juul submitted with its application to sell tobacco- and menthol-flavored products in the United States.
Juul did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The FDA did not respond to a request for comment.
Juul has come under fire for marketing fruit and candy-flavored e-cigarettes to young consumers.
The FDA said that starting in January 2020, e-cigarettes with flavors other than tobacco or menthol will not be allowed to be sold unless the government says so.
The FDA has approved some e-cigarette products from other manufacturers, such as Reynolds American, while rejecting sweet or flavored products.
Juul has said that vaping products can make up for some of the bad things that smoking cigarettes does to your health.
Juul’s products “exist only to transition adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes,” according to Chief Executive KC Crosthwaite on the company’s website, adding that the company is “working hard” to rebuild its reputation after an “erosion of trust over the past few years.”
The administration of President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that it would make a new policy that would require cigarette makers to lower nicotine levels to levels that are not addictive.
The plan calls for the FDA to make and then publish a rule, which the business world will almost certainly fight.
