Major UK Grocery Chains Remove Elf Bars After Violations Found

Three major British grocery chains have removed some Elf Bar disposable vapes from their shelves after the manufacturer admitted that products containing illegal features were distributed to some retailers.

Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons stores have removed watermelon-flavored Elf Bar 600 devices from their stores, and Morrisons has removed all flavors of the 600 series, according to ITV News. The three retailers are among the largest British grocery chains.

The grocery stores’ decision came after British tabloid the Daily Mail tested several Elf Bar 600 vapes and reported they contained between 3 and 3.2 milliliters of e-liquid. UK law prohibits vape tanks or other containers attached to vaping devices that are larger than 2 mL.

The products in question did not contain e-liquid with nicotine strengths greater than the legal limit of 20 mg/mL (2 percent), as the Daily Mail had claimed.

Elf Bar apologized and said the products were not intentionally delivered to the British stores. China-based Elf Bar is the most popular disposable vape brand in the UK, selling millions of devices weekly. The company makes products not sold in the UK or EU that contain as much as 13 mL of e-liquid.

The news follows two years of minor moral panic in the UK over disposable vapes that has mirrored similar concerns in other countries. Last week, a British legislator announced she would soon introduce a bill to ban the sale of disposable vapes. The Scottish government has also considered prohibiting disposables.

In the United States, disposables now dominate sales in the convenience store/gas station segment of the vaping market.