Californian senators aim to get ahead of the FDA with flavours ban

California legislators have introduced a bill aimed at banning flavoured e-liquids and flavoured tobacco across the state.

Bill SB38 would ban tobacco with “characterizing flavor”, defined as “a distinguishable taste or aroma, or both, other than the taste or aroma of tobacco, imparted by a tobacco product or any byproduct produced by the tobacco product”.

The bill singles out “tastes or aromas relating to any fruit, chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic beverage, menthol, mint, wintergreen, herb or spice” as examples of what it means by characterising flavours.

According to the bill, “A tobacco product shall not be determined to have a characterizing flavor solely because of the use of additives or flavorings or the provision of ingredient information. Rather, it is the presence of a distinguishable taste or aroma, or both, as described in the first sentence of this definition, that constitutes a characterizing flavor.”