BAT Testing Data Claims Major Disposable Vaping Brands Contain Illegal Levels of E-liquid

According to betterRetailing, 50 pages of testing data from BAT, with a letter from BAT urging wholesalers to stop selling products, has been leaked to BetterRetailing by a senior wholesaler source. The letter sent by BAT UK managing director Fredrik Svensson stated that it had commissioned "independently accredited laboratory" testing on Elf Bar 600 products purchased from supermarkets and independent retailers between 6 September 2021 and 7 March 2023. The data showed that the tested products contained over 2ml of nicotine e-liquid, from 2.76ml to 3.88ml, over 58%. BAT also tested at the same lab on Lost Mary, Found Mary, IVG Bar, Klik Klak, SKE Crystal, Smok Mbar Pro, and Solo disposable vapes.

BAT's letter urged: "As a responsible trading partner, we trust that you are taking appropriate steps to ensure that you are not supplying non-compliant products and that you will be urgently reviewing the supply of any products you stock, particularly those which our testing demonstrates do not comply with the TRPR [The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016]."

However, a distributor challenged the accuracy of BAT's data and stated that they have recent testing evidence to show compliance with UK laws and said that the test by BAT could be old stock.

Mihai Lambert from SKE Vape suggested test results of SKE Crystal lines were not representative of its actual products, claiming that a Chinese company it had previously worked with was "stealing our information" and that it would be approaching them "to compensate us for the loss of reputation".

Svensson said, "The sharp proliferation of illegal vaping products continues to undermine the trust and credibility established with regulators and consumers for vaping as a category. We need to work together to address the risk and ensure the opportunity of transforming the UK market is fully realized."

The results of BAT tests have been shared with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA). In addition, a trading standards source claimed to betterRetailing that a different letter from BAT had been sent to all authorities.

Asked to comment on the leak, a BAT spokesperson stated “BAT UK conducts regular testing via an independent accredited laboratory on publicly available products across the vapour category as part of routine competitor and category trend analysis. Where we discover apparent compliance issues, we consider it can be constructive to share this independently certified evidence with our trade partners, regulators and enforcement agencies. At BAT, we are committed to building A Better Tomorrow™ by reducing the health impact of our business."

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Leaked BAT testing data claims nearly all major disposable vaping brands contain illegal levels of e-liquid