5 takeaways from the AP’s report on Chinese disposable e-cigarettes flooding the US market

By MATTHEW PERRONE
AP Health Writer

The Associated Press has found that the Food and Drug Administration can’t keep up with a flood of illegal disposable e-cigarettes from China. The AP looked at tightly controlled sales data to try to determine how the FDA is doing in its crackdown on kid-friendly electronic cigarette flavors. The AP obtained the data collected by the analytics firm IRI, which tracks barcode scanner sales from convenience stores, gas stations and other retailers. A person not authorized to share it gave access to the AP on condition of anonymity. The disposable influx has forced the agency to try to eliminate thousands of illegal products sold by under-the-radar retailers, distributors and importers.