Will this new research change the mind of the FDA, which has already stated its intention to eliminate flavored essential oils ?
Everyone who hates vaping wants to get rid of flavored e-liquids. The FDA has tried to ban non- nicotine flavored e-liquids, and it will do so again. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids continues to field calls from the Drug Enforcement Administration and public health organizations asking for a federal ban. Senator Blumenthal screams, Senator Speier groans.
The reason is only one: e-liquids are a plan to get the next generation addicted, etc., Big Tobacco etc. kids… nicotine. Hey, you can’t blame politicians. For them, it’s just an easy target. They just use the nonsense thrown at them by “reputable scientists” from “reliable organizations” to attack smokers.
Like those researchers talked to adult vapers . Oh wait, they never asked them. If they did, they would have figured out that most successful vapers have been using and needing flavors for a long time. Flavors help us completely separate the taste of tobacco. They make vaping more enjoyable and more accessible.
Do they have taste buds?
E-liquid flavors allow us to leave the smell of cigarettes behind, and the further we get from cigarettes, the more we want to enjoy our restored sense of taste and smell. If the FDA’s nightmare rule passes—if the entire independent vaping industry with its thousands of flavors is wiped out—a massive black market will rise from the ashes of the legitimate industry and cause trouble for the FDA for years to come. Like two million angry soldiers, vapers will wreak havoc on the FDA’s regulatory plans.
People of all ages enjoy sweet fruit and dessert flavors. Don’t vaping researchers eat candy, strawberries, and apple pie? Don’t they subsist on a diet of vegan muffins? Do they have taste buds? Are tobacco regulators human? They need more research.
When tobacco control advocates say things like, “the idea that adults would like gummy candy or cotton candy flavors is incredibly implausible,” vapers laugh at them. Because they know vapers in their 40s and 50s absolutely love these flavors. And we all know why. Why don’t they just ask them?
Well, now go ask… probably.
Eureka!
A study recently published in the journal Tobacco Control has come to the surprising conclusion that adult vapers, given the choice, prefer sweet flavors to bland ones. This isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but for those of you who are more of a bland person, this is a huge improvement!
The study found that given a choice of six regular Blu flavors – Classic Tobacco, Magnificent Menthol, Cherry Crush, Piña Colada, Peach Schnapps, and Vivid Vanilla – a group of 31 vapers in the Columbus, OH, area preferred the sweeter taste. Eureka!
“Our results show that the bitter and pungent flavors typically associated with nicotine negatively affect e-cigarette liking,” they conclude, “but adding sweet or refreshing flavors enhances enjoyment. Our results suggest that e-liquid flavor plays an important role in e-cigarette liking.” Of course, the bitterness has nothing to do with nicotine, it just tastes like Blu. But hey, no need to argue with that inconvenience.
The study’s lead author and researchers, most of whom are from Battelle’s Center for Public Health Tobacco Research, one of 14 Tobacco Control Centers of Research on the Public Health Act (TCORS) organized by the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products and the National Institutes of Health, published the study in Tobacco Control, a hub of vaping-related research.
Being funded by legitimate tobacco organizations may make it harder for tobacco control advocates to ignore. This is one of those oddities, because tobacco control itself is writing a pro-vaper article. Let’s see if it gets any attention. Don’t hold your breath, because the FDA and its advocates tend to ignore any argument they don’t think supports their case.
This article was published on Vaping360 by Jim McDonald and translated by The Vape Club.
