Top 10 Flavour Papers

Responses to potential nicotine vaping product flavor restrictions among regular vapers using non-tobacco flavors: Findings from the 2020 ITC Smoking and Vaping Survey in Canada, England and the United States - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460321003373

Scientists found that 53.6% of vapers were strongly opposed and 28.2% were opposed to flavour bans.

From the respondents stating an intention “28.8% would continue vaping an available flavour, 28.3% would find a way to get their banned flavour, 17.1% would stop vaping and smoke instead, and 12.9% do not know what they would do.” 

The researchers concluded: “At this time, it is not clear what net population-level consequences would occur if non-tobacco flavoured NVPs were prohibited. While a majority of vapers in this study opposed this policy, and many vapers would not be willing to switch to available flavours, there was considerable variability in predicted behavioural responses.”

Associations of Flavored e-Cigarette Uptake With Subsequent Smoking Initiation and Cessation - https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2766787

This team found that vaping uptake was positively associated with smoking initiation in youth but associated with cessation in adults. 

Importantly, vaping non-tobacco flavours was no more associated with youth smoking initiation than vaping tobacco-flavours - BUT flavoured vapes were associated with increased adult smoking cessation.

The researchers concluded: “In this study, adults who began vaping non-tobacco-flavoured e-cigarettes were more likely to quit smoking than those who vaped tobacco flavours. More research is needed to establish the relationship between e-cigarette flavours and smoking and to guide related policy.”

Preferred flavors and tobacco use patterns in adult dual users of cigarettes and ENDS - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306460321003531

The project discovered that users of sweet-flavoured vapes were significantly younger than those who used tobacco or menthol flavours. 

They also found that dual users who preferred sweet flavours smoked cigarettes on fewer days than those who preferred tobacco and menthol flavours, and were less cigarette dependen.

The researchers concluded: “Dual users of cigarettes and [vapes] who preferred sweet flavoured [vapes] differed in demographics, tobacco history, motives, expectancies, and smoking changes. Findings have implications for interventions and regulations.”

Changes in Flavor Preference in a Cohort of Long-Term Electronic Cigarette Users - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7193816/

This paper found that exclusive e-cigarette users and dual users changed their vape flavour preference the longer they vapes.

“Preference for tobacco and menthol or mint decreased over time, preference for fruit remained stable, but chocolate/candy or other sweets preference significantly increased and other flavours increased slightly.”

In the event of a ban, nearly 50% of the participants reported that they would “find a way” to buy their preferred flavour or add flavouring agents themselves.

The researchers concluded: “Flavour migration toward sweet flavours occurred in long-term e-cigarette users, a trend most pronounced in younger and exclusive e-cigarette users. The anticipated maintenance of access to flavours despite regulation suggests an element of e-cigarette–related dependence that requires further evaluation. This information could help clinicians understand the health impacts of e-cigarette flavours, develop appropriate strategies for smoking cessation, and inform the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to plan future regulation of e-cigarette flavours.”

Associations Between E-cigarette Use and E-cigarette Flavors With Cigarette Smoking Quit Attempts and Quit Success: Evidence From a U.S. Large, Nationally Representative 2018–2019 Survey - https://academic.oup.com/ntr/article/25/3/541/6761959?login=false

The researchers concluded: “E-cigarette use is positively associated with both making smoking quit attempts and quit success. Those using flavoured e-cigarettes are more likely to quit successfully.”

The Role of Nicotine and Flavor in the Abuse Potential and Appeal of Electronic Cigarettes for Adult Current and Former Cigarette and Electronic Cigarette Users: A Systematic Review - https://academic.oup.com/ntr/article/24/9/1332/6550857?login=false

Results from looking at 104 studies included in this review suggested that higher nicotine concentration and access to a variety of flavours are likely to be associated with the higher appeal of e-cigarettes for adult current and former cigarette and e-cigarette users.

The researchers concluded: “Higher nicotine concentrations and the availability of a variety of flavours in e-cigarettes might facilitate complete substitution for cigarettes. Future e-cigarette regulations should take into account their impact on smokers, for whom e-cigarettes may be a cessation tool or reduced-harm alternative.”

The Association of E-cigarette Flavors With Satisfaction, Enjoyment, and Trying to Quit or Stay Abstinent From Smoking Among Regular Adult Vapers From Canada and the United States: Findings From the 2018 ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey - https://academic.oup.com/ntr/article/22/10/1831/5843872?login=false

This team found that the most common flavour categories were fruit (29.4%) and tobacco (28.7%), followed by mint/menthol (14.4%) and candy (13.5%). 

Vapers using candy or fruit flavours found vaping more satisfying (compared with smoking) than vapers using tobacco flavour (15.5%) and rated vaping as very/extremely enjoyable (fruit: 50.9%; candy: 60.9%) than those using tobacco flavour (39.4%). 

The researchers concluded: “A majority of regular vapers in Canada and the US use non-tobacco flavours. Greater satisfaction and enjoyment with vaping are higher among fruit and candy flavour users. While it does not appear that certain flavours are associated with a greater propensity to attempt to quit smoking among concurrent users, non-tobacco flavours are popular among former smokers who are exclusively vaping. Future research should determine the likely impact of flavour bans on those who are vaping to quit smoking or to stay quit.”

Reactions to Sales Restrictions on Flavored Vape Products or All Vape Products Among Young Adults in the United States - https://academic.oup.com/ntr/article-abstract/24/3/333/6332852?login=false

This paper claims to find that about 24.2% of vapers support sales restrictions on flavoured vape products, and 15.1% amazingly support a complete vape product sales ban. 

If restricted to tobacco flavours, 39.1% of vapers said they would continue vaping and 33.2% said they would switch back to cigarette smoking.

The researchers concluded: “While lower-risk users may be more positively impacted by such policies, other young adult user subgroups may not experience benefit.”

A Difference-in-Differences Analysis of Youth Smoking and a Ban on Sales of Flavored Tobacco Products in San Francisco, California - https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2780248

This paper looked at data from over 100,000 students and compared trends in San Francisco with other districts. San Francisco’s vape flavour ban was associated with higher odds of smoking among underage high school students. 

The researchers wrote: “This raises potential concerns that reducing access to flavoured electronic nicotine delivery systems may motivate youths who would otherwise vape to substitute smoking.”

Patterns of flavored e-cigarette use among adult vapers in the USA: an online cross-sectional survey of 69,233 participants -https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12954-023-00876-w

This study found that the most popular flavours when starting vaping were:

• Fruit (82.8%)
• Dessert/pastry/bakery (68.6%)
• Candy/chocolate/sweet (52.2%)

Tobacco flavours were used by 20.8% of the participants and was by far the least prevalent among participants who never smoked.

The non-tobacco flavours “were considered the most helpful for quitting smoking”. 

The researchers concluded: “Non-tobacco flavours were popular among the US adult vapers who participated in the study, and were popular choices at the time of quitting smoking for those who formerly smoked. Tobacco flavour use prevalence was low and was further reduced over time. Regulators should consider the flavour choice of adult consumers, especially those who quit smoking, when preparing legislation on flavoured e-cigarettes.”

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.