WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Flavoured nicotine products are one of the main reasons driving young people experiment with tobacco or nicotine products, according to the World Health Organization
Flavoured nicotine and tobacco products are inherently addictive and toxic - often more so than regular tobacco. Flavours increase usage, make quitting harder, and have been linked to serious lung diseases, WHO warned in a press release.
Despite decades of progress in tobacco control, flavoured products are luring a new generation into addiction and contributing to eight million tobacco-related deaths each year, WHO data says.
Nicotine products are often marketed directly toward young people through bright and colourful packaging featuring sweet and fruity flavour descriptors.
Research shows that this type of advertising can trigger reward centres in adolescent brains and weaken the impact of health warnings.
Young people also report a growing presence of flavoured nicotine product marketing across all social media platforms.
This marketing of flavours works across all forms of nicotine and tobacco products, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pouches and hookahs.
WHO said flavours such as menthol, bubble gum and cotton candy, are 'masking the harshness of tobacco' and other nicotine products, turning what are toxic products 'into youth-friendly bait.'
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 'without bold action, the global tobacco epidemic.will continue to be driven by addiction dressed up with appealing flavours.'
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