Health Ministry issues first warning about vaping product
Photo:
AFP/ ANP MAG - Koen van Weel
A public warning about a vaping product has been issued by the Ministry of Health for the first time this week.
It issued a warning for Suntree Salts - Vanilla Cream 18mg nic (30ml) yesterday, saying it contained too much of a chemical associated with an inflammatory lung disease called 'popcorn lung'.
The product - which has four times the allowable limit of the flavour compound diacetyl - is now being recalled.
Under the regulatory framework of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990, pre-market testing or approval of vaping products is not required, with vaping product manufacturers and importers notifying the ministry about their products and providing information about how their products met safety standards.
"When the product was first notified in 2024, information was incorrectly supplied by the notifier (Hoopers Vapour Limited). This information was correctly supplied in 2025, and non-compliance was picked up by the ministry at this time and the notifier informed of the non-compliance," the ministry said in a statement.
It said Hoopers Vapour Limited, which imports the product for sale in New Zealand, had proactively taken steps to remove the product from the market and had withdrawn its product notification.
"A consumer level recall is currently being undertaken by the notifier and the ministry is assisting with ensuring that these steps are being taken."
"The ministry is concerned that the product has entered the market and has issued a public warning about the Suntree Vanilla Cream vaping substance. As this is an evolving situation the ministry will not comment on the potential for enforcement action."
The ministry said it had previously prompted notifiers to withdraw products on the basis that they did not meet nicotine labelling claims or had tested above the legal nicotine limit.
Twenty-four products prohibited for sale are listed on the ministry's website.
The ministry said last year it focused product testing on nicotine concentration and tested 250 products out of the approximately 7000 products available for sale.
It said it considered this "sufficiently robust to provide insight into product compliance".
"Where non-compliant products are identified the ministry generally works with the notifier to ensure compliance. This may be through removing the product from the market or in some situations taking enforcement action."
But advocacy group Vape Free Kids NZ has called for the frequency and scope of testing for vape products to be increased.
Co-founder Charyl Robinson said the regular checking and testing undertaken by the ministry only covered around three percent of the overall number of vapes and e-liquids for sale.
"It's entirely a game of chance to know if a dangerous product is being sold possibly to hundreds of people," she said.
In the case of Suntree Salts - Vanilla Cream, she said that product had been on the market omore than 18 months before it was picked up.
"The system relies on the tobacco and vaping industry to honestly declare their products are safe and provide their own testing data when they notify a product for sale."
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