Best Diacetyl-Free E-Juices 2025
E-juice brands with great-tasting diacetyl free e-liquids made with the best possible ingredients.
Is diacetyl-free the safest e-liquid to vape?
Why vape diacetyl-free e-juice?
Diacetyl, called DA for short, is a naturally occurring compound found in the fermentation of beer. It's also synthesized and used as a flavoring agent in food products for its rich mouthfeel and buttery taste. The scare over it has to do with it being the likely culprit in eight cases of popcorn lung, a deadly and irreversible lung disease that affected popcorn factory workers during the 1990s.
DA is safe to consume in foods, but it poses risks for inhalation. The popcorn factory workers were repeatedly exposed to industrial-sized vats of the chemical mixed with hot oil, which is far from the trace amounts found in any e-juice. But even if the risks are minor in comparison, many vapers want to avoid them.
Why aren't all e-juices diacetyl-free?
After a 2014 study conducted by Dr. Farsalinos showed many e-juices on the market contained detectable amounts of DA, the hunt for diacetyl-free e-juice was on. The tricky part was finding them. Many of those companies in the study claimed their products were diacetyl-free, though the liquids in fact did test positive for it in Dr. Farsalinos's study. Were they all lying?
As it turns out, the likelihood that any e-juice maker was (is) directly using DA as an ingredient is slim to none. It resides in some of the flavorings used to make the e-juice. In the earlier days of vaping, little was known about this fact. E-liquid manufacturers knew they weren't adding some flavoring called diacetyl, but what they didn't know was that it was hiding in plain sight. The only way now to be certain if an e-juice is DA-free is by having it independently tested by a third-party source like Enthalpy Labs. Many companies like the ones listed on this page in fact have these test results.
But not all vapers are concerned. For one, DA and its related chemicals called diketones add a rich flavor to e-juice that many vapers enjoy. Secondly, because DA is also one of the thousands of chemicals in cigarettes, and at levels 100 times higher (or more) than in e-juice, some vapers are willing to take the risk. If you were or are a smoker, you've already inhaled it – and a lot of it! Many vapers view the risks of DA in vaping as reduced harm since its content in cigarettes is so much more extreme.
Test results for brands on this page
Vaping360 assumes no liability for claims from e-juice companies. All objective information on this page was provided to us directly from the manufacturer or the company's website. Contact the manufacturer for more information on their ingredients, manufacturing processes, testing procedures, and test results.
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