Latest news with #DuncanStephenson
Daily Record
16-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
'Addictive' nicotine pouches sold to children are replacing disposable vapes
While disposable vapes are now banned, kids are turning to equally attractive nicotine pouches- which they can technically buy legally. Since the UK ban on disposable vapes came into place in June to protect children from becoming addicted, a new trendy nicotine product has reared its ugly head. With sweet flavours and colourful packaging, nicotine pouches are equally attractive to children. But there are currently very few regulations on the selling of them. Nicotine pouches are small products containing nicotine, flavourings, sweeteners, and plant-based fibres. They are placed under the upper lip, allowing nicotine to be absorbed through the gum, and are available in flavours similar to those of vapes including tropical mango, very berry and cherry ice. While they are thought to be less harmful than smoking or vaping, the long-term health effects of using these products is not yet known. And they are technically legal for kids to buy. Nicotine pouches are more easily available to buy than vapes and cigarettes, as they don't fall under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR). Instead, like nicotine-free vapes, they are covered by the less-strict General Products Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR). This means that nicotine pouches are currently widely available in store and online and aren't always restricted to over 18s. These regulations also don't have strong rules around advertising or packaging. While Trading Standards officers are currently ensuring that businesses are no longer selling single-use vapes, they have found that nicotine pouches are now in plain sight at the front of the check-out areas in stores. This, along with their sweet-like flavours and bright packaging, is causing increasing concern about their attractiveness to children. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is calling for all nicotine products to be kept out of children's reach. Duncan Stephenson, Policy and External Affairs Director at CTSI, said: 'While Trading Standards is working to ensure that the ban on single disposable vapes is in place, we are coming across new and emerging threats. "It very much feels like a game of whack-a-mole - just as one product is dealt with, another emerges - the availability of potentially harmful products being promoted and sold to our children seems never ending. "Nicotine pouches are the latest example, with slick marketing, sweet flavours and colourful packaging that risk appealing to young people, whether intended or not." In order to tackle this recently-emerged threat to young people and schoolkids, a new Tobacco and Vapes Bill is currently making its way through Parliament, and it will outlaw the selling of nicotine pouches to those under the age of 18. The new Bill will also introduce powers to restrict the use of child-appealing flavours, packaging and advertising and dictate where they can be placed in shops. But some believe that despite the Bill, the government is not taking quick enough action to tackle the growing problem of children being sold nicotine pouches. Hazel Cheeseman, Chief Executive at Action on Smoking and Health said: 'The government has all the tools needed to address youth appeal and use of nicotine pouches in legislation before parliament. But parliamentary time has not been found to progress this legislation since April. "In the meantime, companies, who know their marketing practices will eventually be restricted, are continuing to heavily promote pouches in ways that appeal to children. While they are likely to be very much less harmful than smoking, they contain nicotine which is addictive, and the long-term health impacts are not known.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Nicotine pouches sold to children mimic sweets, says UK trading standards body
Nicotine pouches are being legally sold to children and are being made appealing to them with special flavours and packaging mimicking sweets, a trading standards body has said. In June, it became illegal for single-use vapes to be sold in England to tackle their widespread use by children. However, there is currently no legislation that restricts the age at which you can buy nicotine pouches. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) said the pouches currently fall between 'regulatory gaps as they are not regulated as a specific tobacco or nicotine product'. Nicotine pouches, which contain nicotine, flavouring and sweeteners, are placed in the upper lip, allowing nicotine to be absorbed through the gum. Trading standards officers found they were in plain sight at checkout areas of many stores, with packaging and flavours similar to sweets and so made appealing to children, the CTSI said. According to a survey by Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) carried out by YouGov, in 2024 only 38% of 11- to 17-year-olds were aware of nicotine pouches, rising to 43% this year. Duncan Stephenson, the policy and external affairs director at the CTSI, said the prominence of nicotine pouches 'very much feels like a game of whack-a-mole', because 'just as one product is dealt with, another emerges.' Stephenson added: 'While Trading Standards is working to ensure that the ban on single disposable vapes is in place, we are coming across new and emerging threats. 'The availability of potentially harmful products being promoted and sold to our children seems never-ending. Nicotine pouches are the latest example, with slick marketing, sweet flavours and colourful packaging that risk appealing to young people, whether intended or not. 'Local Trading Standards teams on the ground are uncovering these risks every day, but we urgently need the powers set out in the tobacco and vapes bill to take urgent and effective action. Strong, proactive regulation is essential to protect children and stop these products from slipping through the cracks.' Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The tobacco and vapes bill, which is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords, will include legislation to restrict the use of flavours, packaging and advertising of nicotine pouches that might appeal to children, and also dictate where they can be placed within shops. The CTSI is calling for the bill to be moved up the parliamentary timeline to ensure there is no delay in restrictions on the sale of nicotine pouches to children being implemented. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Our landmark tobacco and vapes bill will ban the sale of nicotine pouches to under-18s and stop vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately promoted and advertised to children. 'The bill will place nicotine pouches under the same advertising restrictions as tobacco and provides powers to regulate their nicotine limits, flavours, packaging and how they are displayed. 'It will stop the next generation from getting hooked on nicotine and put an end to the cycle of addiction and disadvantage.'
Axios
03-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Slice of life: Meet Nashville's expert bladesmith
The process of craft knife-making is equal parts science and art. A red-hot piece of steel must be hammered in precisely the right way in order to properly shape a blade. Why it matters: Duncan Stephenson has turned his craft knife business, Horn & Heel, into one that is uniquely Nashville. His knives begin as hand-crafted kitchen tools and, over time, become cherished family heirlooms. The big picture: Stephenson's knives are so well regarded that some of Nashville's top restaurants and chefs use them in their kitchens. Chefs from across the country go to Horn & Heel for their knives. Stephenson singled out Sean Brock at June, Michael Hanna at St. Vito, Chris Biard at S.S. Gai, Rooney at Black Dynast Ramen and Nick Guidry at Pelican & Pig as a few of his local clients. What he's saying:"I get distracted. So I really like the problem solving aspect," Stephenson tells Axios. "It keeps me honed. I'm locked into what the customer has requested of me, and how I create that, but also in my voice." Speaking to the science of blademaking, Stephenson says "the metallurgy behind the heat treatment is a whole other thing. If you don't heat-treat steel well, it is a knife-shaped object, but it won't function." Then there's the artful aspect, which comes in as he adds finishing touches to create the aesthetic of the wooden handle. Zoom in: For instance, a customer, who happened to be a Green Bay Packers fan, requested a custom-made pizza cutter. Stephenson fashioned the circular slicer, and then added green-and-yellow stripes made from small pieces of metal on the handle. Flashback: Stephenson says knife-making is at the Venn diagram of his interests and personal background. His father is a cabinetmaker. Stephenson went to art school, where he got a degree in fine arts with a concentration in small metals. "Utilitarianism is a massive thing for me. I like to create something that goes out in the world and serves a purpose and makes someone's life better," he says. His knives aren't cheap because they're made to last a lifetime and even be passed down as heirlooms. The cost is generally several hundred dollars. In some instances, professional chefs have come back to order more knives, the ultimate compliment. Zoom out: Horn & Heel is nestled into The Forge, a maker's space off of Hermitage Avenue south of downtown where artists, screen printers, sculptors and woodworkers have micro businesses. "The energy here is really palpable," he says. "I feed off of being around the people here, even if their area of interest is completely different than mine." In addition to his blademaking, a few times per year Stephenson leads small workshops where he teaches small groups of students the entire process from finish. Bonus: Because of Stephenson's love of food, his restaurant recommendations carry extra weight. He mentioned Thai-chicken joint SS Gai, Black Dynasty Ramen (both are clients) and James Beard-nominated Peninsula as some of his current faves.
