Leading disposable vape brand Elf Bar has “wholeheartedly apologised” after an investigation found its products breached the permissible nicotine strength.
The Daily Mail conducted lab tests on Elf Bar’s ‘600’ line of disposable vapes, which revealed that the products contained at least 50 per cent over the legal limit for e-liquid.
The Chinese company told the paper that the products meant for other markets where higher strength nicotine is permitted ‘inadvertently’ sent to the UK.
“We found out that some batches of the Elf Bar product have been overfilled in the UK,” a spokesperson for Elf Bar told the Mail.
“It appears that e-liquid tank sizes, which are standard in other markets [such as the US], have been inadvertently fitted to some of our UK products. We wholeheartedly apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”
The brand added it would alert retailers and review its production process, insisting that the “highly regrettable situation” did not compromise the product's safety.
The Mail bought Elf Bar 600s from Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons branches in London, Derby and Sheffield as part of the investigation, and said independent lab tests found “they contained between 3ml and 3.2ml of nicotine levels.”
It is not clear whether the product breached the legal limit of 20mg/ml on nicotine strength.
The UK regulations require that vaping devices restrict e-cigarette tanks to a capacity of no more than 2ml and restrict e-liquids to a nicotine strength of no more than 20mg/ml or 2 per cent.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the paper: “Local enforcement agencies are responsible for enforcing these regulations and taking action against non-compliant products including products that do not comply with the 2ml limits.”
Two other major vape brands tested at the same time were found to have legal levels, the paper added.
Tesco reportedly removed some Elf Bar 600s from its stores and Morrisons launched a probe into the product after alerted by the Mail. Both supermarkets said they are working with Elf Bar to investigate the claims.
