U.K. supermarkets are removing Elfbar 600 disposable electronic cigarettes from their shelves after the product was found to contain higher-than-allowed volumes of nicotine e-liquid, reports ITV News.
“We have temporarily removed one Elfbar vape line from sale as a precautionary measure whilst the manufacturer urgently investigates these claims,” a Tesco spokesperson said.
Sainsbury’s followed suit with a spokesperson saying: “We are in close contact with our supplier and have temporarily removed the affected Elfbar product whilst they investigate further.”
Morrisons has gone a step further and has stopped the sale of the whole Elfbar 600 range.
“As part of our ongoing investigation into the legal compliance of Elfbar 600 disposable electronic cigarettes with Trading Standards, we have made the decision to remove all flavored variants from sale,” a spokesperson told ITV News.
“The products will only be returned to sale once stock that fully complies with U.K. legislation becomes available.”
The supermarkets acted after a Daily Mail investigation found Elfbar 600s to have at least 50 percent more than the legal limit for nicotine e-liquid. E-cigarettes bought at branches of Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons contained between 3 mL and 3.2 mL of e-liquid, when the legal limit is 2 mL.
Elfbar attributed the breach to accidental overfilling. “It appears that e-liquid tank sizes, which are standard in other markets [such as the U.S.], have been inadvertently fitted to some of our U.K. products,” a company spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
“We wholeheartedly apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.”