FDA Authorizes First Fruit-Flavored E-Cigarettes, Marking Shift From Prior Tobacco- and Menthol-Only Policy

The Food and Drug Administration authorized fruit-flavored e-cigarettes for the first time on May 5, 2026. The products from Los Angeles-based Glas Inc. include flavors marketed as Gold and Sapphire, which correspond to mango and blueberry, along with Classic Menthol and Fresh Menthol.

The authorization marks the first approval of fruit flavors after the agency had previously permitted only tobacco and menthol varieties. Glas plans to market the four varieties under those exact names. The FDA’s scientific review found that the company’s age-gated technology, combined with the agency’s marketing requirements, “is expected to effectively mitigate the ability of youth to use the product,” said Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Users must pair each device with a smartphone, upload a selfie along with government identification to confirm age, and the e-cigarettes function only when in close proximity to the paired phone. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary initially opposed the authorization even though career staff had signed off. President Trump admonished Makary last weekend and urged him to approve the products.

Makary told STAT on Wednesday that agency scientists viewed the age-gating system as solid enough to restrict use to adults. “The feeling of the scientists at the agency was that age-gating technology is solid and that would limit the vaping to adults,” Makary said. “That was their view.

” Makary expressed greater concern about illegal vapes. “There’s one school security officer in Florida who said almost every month there’s somebody who’s taken to the hospital with some sort of respiratory thing that they believe is related to vapes,” he said. ” Youth vaping rates have fallen since their peak of 20 percent in 2019.

The legal age to purchase tobacco products was raised from 18 to 21 during that period. S. are illegal. Michael Siegel, a professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, said strong research shows flavored vapes help more adults quit smoking than tobacco or menthol flavors alone.

“There’s very strong research to show that the use of flavored vapes is more effective in smoking cessation than switching to just tobacco or menthol vapes,” Siegel said. S. and is blamed for 480,000 deaths annually from cancer, lung disease and heart disease.

U.S. The FDA said it will closely monitor marketing of the products and may suspend or withdraw authorization if youth use rises or if benefits no longer outweigh risks.