Belgium is presently on the point of ban all vape flavours besides tobacco, following new suggestions from its Superior Well being Council and powerful backing from Well being Minister Frank Vandenbroucke. Naturally, the acknowledged objective is to stop youth nicotine uptake by eradicating flavours officers consider are designed to draw youngsters and masks the dangers of vaping. But this strategy overlooks a rising physique of proof exhibiting that flavours play a vital function in serving to grownup people who smoke give up flamable cigarettes—and that eradicating them could unintentionally push folks again towards smoking, probably the most dangerous type of nicotine use.
The Superior Well being Council’s revised place marks a shift from earlier warning about blanket flavour bans. Its newest evaluation argues that any potential profit to grownup people who smoke is outweighed by the necessity to defend younger folks. This variation has been pushed by considerations about rising experimentation amongst adolescents, with college surveys exhibiting that almost one in three pupils have tried vaping and that weekly use has quadrupled over 5 years. These figures are understandably alarming, however they don’t exist in isolation from grownup smoking traits or the broader public-health context.
Belgium’s policymakers typically cite the Netherlands as a template. Since January 2024, the Netherlands has restricted e-cigarette flavours to tobacco solely. Early self-reported information counsel that round 30 % of Dutch vapers decreased their use after the ban, and greater than 20 % mentioned they stopped vaping altogether with out returning to cigarettes. On the floor, these numbers seem reassuring. Nonetheless, they inform solely a part of the story. The Dutch expertise has additionally been marked by widespread illicit commerce, with flavoured merchandise available by means of casual channels, elevating considerations about product security, enforcement capability, and the lack of regulatory oversight.
Belgian retailers are already warning of comparable penalties. Perstablo, which represents press, tobacco, and gaming shops, has condemned the proposal as disproportionate and legally questionable, arguing that it’ll gasoline black markets whereas harming respectable companies. These considerations mirror patterns seen elsewhere, the place prohibition has typically shifted demand fairly than eradicated it.
Do flavour bans defend youth or push people who smoke again to cigarettes?
Past Belgium and the Netherlands, worldwide proof more and more challenges the idea that flavour bans produce web public-health advantages. Information from the UK supply a helpful distinction. Vaping now surpasses smoking amongst adults, with roughly 5.4 million folks vaping in contrast with 4.9 million people who smoke. Over the previous decade, cigarette use has practically halved, a decline extensively attributed to people who smoke switching to much less dangerous alternate options. But progress has begun to gradual, pushed partly by rising public confusion about relative threat. Many people who smoke now incorrectly consider vaping is as dangerous as smoking, a false impression exacerbated by tight restrictions on speaking threat variations.
Gross sales information from Haypp, a serious on-line retailer, underline how central flavours are to grownup cessation efforts. Because the UK’s disposable-vape ban, fruit flavours proceed to dominate purchases, adopted carefully by mint and fruit-mint blends. Older adults, significantly these over 55, present a transparent choice for mint, reflecting familiarity with menthol cigarettes. Importantly, these patterns counsel adult-driven demand fairly than youth-oriented novelty.
The function of vape flavours in grownup smoking cessation
Flavours do greater than improve style—they assist people who smoke disassociate vaping from smoking
In response to Haypp’s head of exterior affairs, Markus Lindblad, flavours do greater than improve style—they assist people who smoke disassociate vaping from smoking. This differentiation seems important for long-term abstinence. A number of research assist this view. Analysis constantly exhibits that grownup vapers who use non-tobacco flavours usually tend to give up smoking utterly and fewer prone to relapse. Tobacco-flavoured merchandise, against this, are sometimes related to decrease satisfaction and decrease cessation success.
The priority that flavours are “for teenagers” can be contradicted by large-scale empirical analysis. A main U.S. examine involving over 376,000 younger adults discovered that flavour bans decreased vaping however had been related to will increase in cigarette smoking. This substitution impact is especially troubling from a harm-reduction perspective, provided that cigarettes account for the overwhelming majority of nicotine-related illness and dying.
More moderen financial analyses reinforce this sample. A 2025 study printed in Well being Economics examined statewide flavour bans utilizing nationally consultant information and strong econometric strategies. Amongst 18- to 24-year-olds, vaping declined by two to a few proportion factors after bans had been launched—however cigarette smoking rose by practically the identical quantity. Related traits had been noticed in different analyses, together with a JAMA Well being Discussion board examine and analysis utilizing Behavioral Danger Issue Surveillance System information, all pointing to the identical conclusion: when safer alternate options are restricted, some customers revert to smoking.
These findings are particularly related for adults who battle to give up abruptly. Scientific trials from establishments akin to Queen Mary College of London present that vaping, even alongside non permanent twin use, reduces poisonous publicity and will increase the chance of eventual cessation. Flavours seem to play a key function in sustaining these transitions by making alternate options extra interesting and efficient than conventional nicotine substitute therapies alone.
Governments are proper to be involved about youth uptake, however proof more and more means that prohibition is a blunt instrument. Extra focused approaches—akin to strict age verification, advertising controls, product requirements, and enforcement in opposition to illicit sellers—are prone to defend younger folks with out undermining hurt discount for adults. The UK’s transfer towards digital product verification utilizing QR codes is one instance of how regulators can tackle unlawful provide whereas preserving entry to regulated, safer merchandise.
Smoking is the enemy, not flavours
At its core, the flavour debate displays a broader pressure in tobacco management: whether or not coverage ought to give attention to eliminating all nicotine use or prioritising the elimination of smoking-related hurt. The proof overwhelmingly helps the latter. Flavours will not be a aspect concern; they’re a central element of why safer nicotine merchandise work for hundreds of thousands of adults.
Belgium now faces a important selection. By following a prohibitionist path, it dangers slowing smoking decline, fuelling illicit markets, and repeating errors made with different substances. In contrast, a harm-reduction strategy—grounded in proof fairly than assumptions—might defend youth whereas persevering with to drive down smoking, the true enemy of public well being.
Flavours and Info: Selecting Science Over Stigma
