Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36328458›Full record

ArticleTobacco control2022

Did JUUL alter the content of menthol pods in response to US FDA flavour enforcement policy?

Amira Yassine, Rachel El Hage, Ahmad El-Hellani, Rola Salman, Soha Talih, Thomas Eissenberg, Alan Shihadeh, Najat Saliba

Erratum issuedOpen access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Tobacco control, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 45% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Amira YassineDepartment of Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.ORCID 0000-0002-8692-6183
Rachel El HageDepartment of Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Ahmad El-HellaniDepartment of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University Center for the Study of Tobacco Products, Richmond, Virginia, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1047-0597
Rola SalmanDepartment of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University Center for the Study of Tobacco Products, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Soha TalihDepartment of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University Center for the Study of Tobacco Products, Richmond, Virginia, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3520-675X
Thomas EissenbergDepartment of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University Center for the Study of Tobacco Products, Richmond, Virginia, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8277-5437
Alan ShihadehDepartment of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University Center for the Study of Tobacco Products, Richmond, Virginia, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6387-8564
Najat SalibaDepartment of Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon ns30@aub.edu.lb.ORCID 0000-0002-4276-1524
Virginia Commonwealth University · USAmerican University of Beirut · LB

Funding

Project 4: Using a prospective cohort survey to test population-level predictions generated by Projects 1-3U54DA036105 · NIDA · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · PI FAGAN, PEBBLES · 2018 to 2022
$20.8M
NIDA NIH HHS U54 DA036105
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe JUUL electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) remains popular in the USA and has a big prevalence among youth. In response to the popularity of JUUL and similar devices among youth, the US Food and Drug Administration issued in February 2020 an enforcement policy to remove all flavoured cartridge/pod-based e-cigarettes from the market except for tobacco and menthol. Subsequent studies showed that some users of the now-removed flavoured JUUL pods (especially cool mint) switched to menthol-flavoured JUUL pods with similar satisfaction.

methodsWe quantified menthol, nicotine, propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerol (VG) in JUUL pod samples (Menthol, Classic Menthol and Cool Mint) that were purchased in 2017, 2018 and 2020 (only Menthol) to evaluate composition differences before and after the enforcement policy. We also analysed the samples to detect other cooling agents using a screening gas chromatography-mass spectrometry headspace method that we developed for this purpose.

resultsMenthol concentration was significantly higher in 2020 products than in products from prior years. Moreover, other cooling agents varied across pods. The PG/VG volume ratio was 27/63 in all pods examined.

conclusionThis study highlights how regulations intended to reduce e-cigarette prevalence among youth may influence changes in tobacco product characteristics in ways that regulators may not have foreseen.

Indexed as

Electronic Nicotine Delivery SystemsTobacco ProductsVapingAdolescentFlavoring AgentsGlycerolHumansMentholPolicyPropylene GlycolUnited StatesUnited States Food and Drug AdministrationFlavoring AgentsGlycerolMentholPropylene Glycoladdictionelectronic nicotine delivery devicesharm reductionnicotinetobacco industry

Identifiers

PMID36328458
PMCPMC9641543
OpenAlexW4308636624

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.