Controversial e-cigarettes ‘aimed at teens’ to be sold in 1,400 Sainsbury’s stores
Sainsbury's will start selling the controversial Juul e-cigarettes later this month but the company has come under fire for seemingly appealing to youngsters
THE firm behind the controversial “iPhone of e-cigarettes” which are said to be “aimed at teens” has struck a deal to supply all of Sainsbury’s stores.
San Francisco-based vaping giant Juul, which has 70 percent of the e-cigarette market in the US, will supply all 1,400 of the supermarket’s outlets from November 4.
Juul managing director Dan Thomson said the deal was “a ringing endorsement for our product from a major UK supermarket”.
However the company has come under the spotlight lately over sales of vaping products to youths.
A report by Tobacco Control published this week said Juul use was much higher among young people.
The e-cigarettes industry is also currently being investigated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FDA are said to have carried out a surprise inspection of Juul’s offices last months and seized documents relating to sales and marketing practices - as part of its attempts to stop young people from using e-cigarettes.
Last week it gave Juul and four other companies three months to prove they can keep their products out of the hands of youngsters.
If they fail to provide the evidence they could be forced to remove their products.
Juul appears to have amassed a strong teenage fanbase, if social media is anything to go by, with people pictured “juuling” online.
The company is said to have a “cool” image and one that appeals to youngsters.
Deputy head at Southridge High School in Beaverton, Oregon, said: “I’ve got desk drawers full of confiscated Juuls.
Probably every teacher in America has right now. It’s definitely the latest cool gadget. And they’re so small; students can hide them easily. They don’t realise they’re getting addicted – they’re kids.”
The company is also currently facing a number of lawsuits saying it has actually worsened addiction to nicotine in some cases while also marketing its products as safe.
has quoted a spokesperson as saying: “Juul Labs does not believe the cases have merit and will be defending them vigorously.”
Adam Bowen, 42, a co-founder of the company told the paper: “We understand that under-age consumption is a problem.
“We don’t want it. But our fear is that this is detracting from what we’re trying to do.
“We’ve converted one million smokers away from cigarettes who aren’t going back. And that means half a million people have done something extraordinary.”
Simon Capewell, Professor of Public Health and Policy at the University of Liverpool, blasted the deal.
He said: "A great day for the tobacco industry, a bad day for British kids.
“Sainsbury’s should hang their heads in shame.”
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health told : “Having new and different products widely available on the market, like Juul, should help encourage more smokers to try vaping and that can only be to the benefit of public health.
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“We will continue to monitor youth use but the evidence so far from our surveys is that vaping by under-18s is very rare and almost entirely confined to those who are already smokers.”
Mr Thomson said: “Our mission is to improve the lives of millions of British smokers… [The deal] will allow us to reach a wider audience of smokers, to help them to switch.
"We are an independent company that does not sell tobacco products and is not affiliated with Big Tobacco... We impose strict age verification procedures to ensure that our product only gets into the hands of current adult smokers.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told The Sun: “We’re expanding our vaping range to ensure we’re offering customers choice and value.”