FDA Bans Electronic Cigarette “Juice” Used in Vaping-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Viral reports claim that the FDA has banned the “e-juice” used in electronic cigarettes.
The Truth:
This false report that the FDA has banned e-cigarettes or vaping can be traced back to a new fake news website.
The website, Associated Media Coverage, sounds official — but it’s not.
In a report that appeared under the headline, “FDA Announces Ban On Electronic-Cigarette ‘Juice’,” the website reported:
Representatives from the U.S Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products have announced a July 2016 ban on the liquid mixture used in vapor products such as electronic cigarettes.
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) passed regulations throughout early 2015 requiring manufactures of electronic cigarettes to retroactively submit marketing applications for their products. This was perceived to be a huge blow to the electronic cigarette industry as the fees accrued by manufactures submitting these applications were projected in the millions. The FDA provided impacted companies two years to submit their applications and allowed for them to continue selling the products under review during this two-year window.
Within days of being published in mid-March 2016 the story had been viewed more than 20,000 times. Readers who were duped into believing that it was real sounded off on government overreach and commented on how it fits into the 2016 presidential race. One reader commented:
That is why they don’t want Trump to get elected. He would close them down along with the CDC. The Cockroaches would have to find new ways to earn a living. Don’t believe me? Ask Duncan Hunter.
Associated Media Coverage is a new website, and it doesn’t clearly identify itself as satire or fake news — but it certainly is.
In reality, the FDA only regulates e-cigarettes labeled as “therapeutic” at the time this report was published. Proposed rules expanding FDA jurisdiction over e-cigarettes have been forwarded to the White House, but nothing has been finalized.