By AP Health Writer Matthew Pelone
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration is allowing vaping vaping brand Juul to keep e-cigarettes in the market, offering relief to businesses that have struggled for years after being widely accused of causing a teenage vaping trend.
FDA regulators said Thursday that Juul’s study showed that its e-cigarettes are too harmful to adult smokers who can benefit from switching to vaping completely.
The FDA decision applies to both tobacco and menthol-flavored versions of reusable products. Juul previously discontinued the taste of some fruit and candy that was favored by teens, but that helped promote its popularity.
Juul is one of two US companies that have been allowed to sell menthol-flavored steam, which many adults prefer tobacco flavor.
“This is an important milestone for the company and I think it created a scientifically sound case for the role that menthol can play in e-vapor,” Juul CEO KC Crosswaite told The Associated Press.
Parents, politicians and anti-Bakco groups are certain to oppose the FDA’s decision. For years they have argued that Juul should forever ban the sale of its products due to its role in causing long-standing spikes in minor vaping
Juul was once valued at over $13 billion, and its small, sophisticated e-cigarettes have revolutionized the image and technology of the vaping industry. However, the company has since been forced to cut hundreds of jobs and pay billions to resolve lawsuits relating to its role in the rise of youth vaping.
The FDA ordered the company to remove the product from the market in June 2022. However, the agency then agreed to reversing the course abruptly a few days later and resumed scientific review of Juul’s application after the company returned to court.
Juul said regulators have overlooked thousands of pages of scientific data that are important in submissions.
Thursday’s announcement was not approved or approved, and the FDA reiterated that people who do not smoke should not use Juul or other e-cigarettes. FDA measurements show that smokers who switch completely to Juul can reduce exposure to fatal carcinogens and other chemicals found in traditional cigarettes.
The FDA decision applies to Juul’s original product. This is now about 10 years ago. Crosswaite said the company hopes to obtain permission for next-generation devices and is also considering applying for more flavors to the FDA.
In recent years, the FDA has allowed a small number of e-cigarettes to help adult smokers reduce traditional cigarettes. Juul’s major competitors Vuse and Njoy have each been given permission to stay in the FDA market previously.
To meet FDA requirements, businesses need to demonstrate that e-cigarettes will benefit public health. In reality, it means that adult smokers who use it are more likely to quit or reduce smoking.
Juul, the creator of two Stanford students, launched in 2015 and within two years it surged to the top of Vaping Market.
Juul quickly outperformed the early brands with high nicotine, fruity flavor cartridges sold in mango, mint and cream broille. The company’s small, individual devices provided a more powerful, user-friendly alternative to older, bulky devices.
However, the company’s rise was driven by the use of minors, and e-cigarettes quickly became ubiquitous in American schools. In 2019, the company stopped all advertising and was pressured to eliminate most of its flavors, leaving only the tobacco and menthol flavor options.
By then, the company had already been the target of multiple investigations and litigation by federal, state and local officials and class action lawyers.
In 2022, the company paid $1.7 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed by Juul users, school districts, city government and families of Native American tribes. The company separately agreed to pay $1.1 billion to resolve lawsuits and investigations from most U.S. states.
Juul is no longer a top-selling e-cigarette brand, but a Trails Vuse sold by Reynolds American.
According to the latest federal survey, teens have stepped away from the brand amid widening vaping. The FDA reported last year that teenage vaping fell to its first low in 10 years after tightening enforcement against illicit brands imported from China, such as ELF bars.
Unlike Juul, disposable e-cigarettes like the Elf Bar still taste like fruit and candy despite efforts by regulators to block them from using them.
The Associated Press School of Health Sciences is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institution’s Department of Science and Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
Original release: July 17, 2025 12:03 PM EDT
