FDA approves flavored vapes for adults

May 6 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration approved some flavored vapes delivering on a campaign promise from President Donald Trump to "save vaping."

The FDA gave its OK to electronic cigarettes from Glas, a company based in Los Angeles. The approved flavors are mango, blueberry and two varieties of menthol.

Court filings show the FDA previously rejected more than 1 million vapes flavored like fruit, candy and desserts and nicotine companies sued the FDA for changing its standards unfairly, but the Supreme Court backed the FDA.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump over the weekend urged FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to move faster to approve flavored and nicotine vapes. Just hours later, Makary announced that some are approved.

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The FDA said in the announcement that the vape products will be age restricted via government ID and a Bluetooth connection with the user's smartphone.

"By helping to prevent youth use, device access restrictions are a potential game changer," said Bret Koplow, acting director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, in a statement. "This technology is also an indication of the role innovation may serve in the effort to protect young people from threats posed by nicotine use and addiction while helping to enable availability of an expanded array of flavored options for adults who smoke who may use these products to completely switch away from regular cigarettes."

The agency said it will closely monitor how the products are marketed to ensure that they are only marketed to people 21 and older in the United States.

The FDA has now authorized 45 electronic nicotine delivery systems products for marketing in the United States, the FDA announcement said.

A study published last year in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that disposable e-cigarettes boost nicotine sales.

This week in Washington

President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation inside the Oval Office at The White House on Tuesday. The memorandum is set to restore the Presidential Fitness Test Award, a competitive school-based fitness program last seen under the Obama administration. Photo by Tom Brenner/UPI | License Photo