The watermelon-flavoured Elf Bar 600 was found to have 50% more than the legal limit for nicotine
(Picture: PA Wire)UK shops are taking Elf Bar off the shelves after a study found the vapes contained illegal nicotine levels.
The device was taken off the market after a Daily Mail investigation.
The paper bought several vapes and found that the watermelon-flavoured Elf Bar 600 had at least 50% more than the legal limit for nicotine.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores nationwide removed the flavour from their stories, while Morrisons went a step further and ceased to sell the entire Elf Bar 600 line.
The percentage of kids between the ages of 11 and 17 who vape increased from 4 per cent in 2020 to 7 per cent in 2022, according to a survey by Action on Smoking and Health.
Only 3 per cent of 11- to 15-year-old children vaped at any time in 2013, but that number increased to 8 per cent in 2020 and 10 per cent in 2022.
Some experts think the wide variety of flavoured disposable vapes, which come in appealing flavours such as sweet blue raspberries, lemonade and cotton candy, is a contributing cause to the popularity of e-cigarettes among younger people.
What is an Elf Bar?
The Elf Bar is a disposable electronic cigarette that is pre-liquidated and battery-powered.
The vapes come in 30 flavours with various nicotine strengths. Unlike reusable vapes, which have a cartridge or tank that needs refilling, they are sold ready to use and last for about 600 puffs.
Why have Elf Bars been recalled?
UK shops are taking the product off their shelves after the discovery that the popular e-cigarettes contain illegal levels of nicotine.
The Daily Mail tested three flavours of Elf Bar 600s from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Morrisons supermarkets in London, Derby, and Sheffield and discovered that their tank capacity was between 3 and 3.2ml, which is far higher than the UK legal limit of 2ml.
In response to the Daily Mail investigation, a spokesperson for Elf Bar said: “We found out that some batches of the Elf Bar product have been overfilled in the UK.
“It appears that e-liquid tank sizes, which are standard in other markets, have been inadvertently fitted to some of our UK products. We wholeheartedly apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”
