Information sheet: Flavour accessories in tobacco products enhance attractiveness and appeal

Overview

Flavours in tobacco, nicotine and related products enhance attractiveness and appeal, contributing to experimentation, initiation and sustained tobacco and nicotine use. Flavours are especially appealing to children and adolescents and in some jurisdictions, the presence of flavours in nicotine and/or tobacco products has been prohibited or restricted to prevent youth uptake. However, in response to such regulatory measures, new products, such as “flavour accessories”, have emerged that enable consumers to add flavours to otherwise unflavoured tobacco products, facilitating access to and continued use of flavoured products. Many flavour accessory websites feature youth-oriented marketing, and the majority do not require age verification.

Flavour accessories pose challenges to regulators, as these products circumvent bans on flavours, and are frequently unregulated. This information sheet ‘Flavour accessories in tobacco products enhance attractiveness and appeal’ summarizes current knowledge on flavour accessories in tobacco products to a wide range of audiences, with a focus on regulators, to guide policy action to protect evidence-based policies.