A policy to standardise packaging could reduce youth and non-smoking adults’ interest in trying vaping products, without dissuading adults who smoke from trying them or inflating misperceptions of harm, states a new study, heating up the calls to introduce plain packaging of vapes.
According to a new study led by UCL and King’s College London researchers, half (53 per cent) said their peers would be interested in trying vapes in their usual packaging.
The authors of the latest paper say that packaging is “a primary marketing tool for vape companies”.
The different packs used in the study were usual branded packs, a plain white pack with the usual description of the product in black lettering, such a “blu razz”, a plain pack with limited flavour descriptions, such as “blue raspberry”, and a standardised pack with the flavour listed as a code instead of a name, such as “FR248”.
The study involved 2,770 children and young people aged 11 to 18 and just under 4,000 adults. This dropped to 38 per cent when they were shown vapes in standardised packs with usual flavour descriptions.
Among adults, interest remained similar whether packs were standardised in white or branded packing. The researchers also found that standardised packaging did not affect how harmful adults perceived vapes to be compared with cigarettes.
“Standardised packaging and limiting flavour descriptors reduced youth appeal but had minimal effect on adults’ interest or harm perception,” the research team wrote in the journal Lancet Regional Health Europe.
Usual vape packaging often includes “colourful designs and conceptual flavour names”, which appeal to children, the authors of the paper said.
“Vape packaging and flavour regulations need to strike a delicate balance,” said lead author Dr Eve Taylor, based at UCL’s Department of Behavioural Science and Health and formerly at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London.
“They must aim to deter young people and people who do not smoke, while at the same time avoid discouraging people who smoke from using vaping to quit.
“Our findings, in line with past evidence, show that regulating vape packaging might be helpful by reducing vaping’s appeal to adolescents but not adults. This gets us close to striking that balance.”
Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health, which supported the study, added: “This is important research which illustrates how policymakers could better regulate vapes to protect children without damaging them as a quitting aid for smokers.
“Parliament must now get on and pass the Tobacco and Vapes Bill so detailed regulations can be laid without which it will be much more challenging to reduce teen vaping.”
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which is currently passing through the House of Lords, will allow ministers to regulate the flavours, packaging and display of vapes.