Elfbar and its sister vape brand Lost Mary have announced they will drop ‘dessert and soft drink’ flavours of vape. The move away from sweeter flavours comes amid increasing concerns of the products’ appeal to children.

Elfbar has already dropped Bubble Gum, Cotton Candy, and Rainbow Candy flavours, and more expected to follow. Gummy Bear has been renamed Gummy, but that will also soon be dropped.

The company also called for tighter restrictions on vape sales, including a licensing regime for retailers similar to the of cigarettes and alcohol, as it is “not acceptable that vapes are sold widely in premises that have little or no experience of selling age restricted products”, a spokesperson said.

“We also believe that the introduction of such a regime would help reduce the potential of children getting access to vapes and make it easier for the authorities to better police the sale of vaping products.

“Furthermore, we believe that it would have benefits in tackling the growing illicit vape market and help with driving increased rates of vape recycling,” they added.

The tighter restrictions include rules requiring them to display vapes behind the counter.

A spokesperson at Elfbar said renaming and phasing out of flavours is to limit the vapes’ “appeal to children”.

“The introduction of such a regime would mitigate children’s access to vapes and make it easier for the authorities to better regulate the sale of vaping devices. Furthermore, we believe it would help combat the growing illicit vape market and drive increased rates of vape recycling,” an Elfbar spokesman said.

“We are also planning to apply this flavour descriptor review to Lost Mary and will provide updates accordingly.”

The government consultation on new rules for vapes closes on 6 December.

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