Shops have been caught using popular sweet packaging to illegally sell thousands of dollars worth of potentially deadly vapes to children.
Unscrupulous retailers have been using sugary food brand names – such as Fanta and Skittles – to encourage young people to buy illegal high-strength vapes smuggled into Britain from the United States.
Around 3,000 illegal e-cigarettes worth roughly 24,000 British pounds ($28,800) were seized by council workers in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), west London, in the United Kingdom.
Most of the vapes were seized from shops and stalls in Portobello and Earls Court by trading standards officers over the course of this month.
Many of the products confiscated had the U.S. health warning printed and were being smuggled into the U.K., the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said.
Most of the illegal products came from the U.S., where a new law bans high volume and high strength vapes, meaning they can longer be sold to the U.S. market.
Some e-cigarettes can leak with the risk of exposure to liquid nicotine which is poisonous and can cause serious illness or possibly even death.
Councilor Josh Rendall, lead member for local economy and employment at RBKC, said: “These vapes are being designed and marketed to purposefully mislead people.
“They have no place in our borough. I am particularly worried about these products being sold to young people.
“Our trading standards team will continue to work hard to protect people from products that are non-compliant or misleading.”
Genuine products will have the following health warning “this product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance” covering 30 percent of the front and back of the packet.
Vapes should have a maximum tank size of 2 milliliters (0.07 ounces) and a vape pen should give no more than 600 to 800 puffs, the council warned.
The highest nicotine strength for vapes is two percent and the nicotine liquid should not contain any additives or any ingredients such as caffeine or taurine.
Selling e-cigarettes or vapes to anyone under 18 is illegal in the U.K. and every vaping product sold containing nicotine must be registered by the medicines and healthcare products regulator, the MHRA.
Vaping can help some people quit smoking and although it is less damaging to the user than smoking it is not harmless, a RBKC spokesman said.
Portobello Road hosts the largest antiques market in the world with thousands of people flocking to browse the renowned trading stalls.
Produced in association with SWNS.
