Flavored tobacco products luring youth to addiction, death - WHO

Marking the World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) launches a new publication and calls on governments to urgently ban all flavours in tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, pouches, hookahs and e-cigarettes to protect youth from addiction and disease.

Flavours like menthol, bubble gum and cotton candy are masking the harshness of tobacco andnicotine products turning toxic products into youth-friendly bait.

Flavours not only make it harder to quit but have also been linked to serious lung diseases. Cigarettes, which still kill up to half of their users, also come in flavours or can have flavours added to them.

“Flavours are fuelling a new wave of addiction, and should be banned,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “They undermine decades of progress in tobacco control. Without bold action, the global tobacco epidemic, already killing around 8 million people each year, will continue to be driven by addiction dressed up with appealing flavours.”

Flavours are a leading reason why young people try tobacco and nicotine products.

Paired with flashy packaging and social media-driven marketing, they’ve increased the appeal of nicotine pouches, heated tobacco, and disposable vapes into addictive and harmful products, which aggressively target young people.

“We are watching a generation get hooked on nicotine through gummy bear-flavoured pouches and rainbow-coloured vapes,” said Dr Rüdiger Krech, WHO Director of Health Promotion. “This isn’t innovation, it’s manipulation. And we must stop it.”