This year, state lawmakers introduced two bills that would outlaw flavors for liquids used in nicotine vaping devices. The bills, LB 1550 and LB 1693, would ultimately harm adult users of these products, likely driving them back to using tobacco. These bills are currently being reviewed by the joint committees and will soon go to a vote.

Yaël Ossowski, deputy director at the D.C.-based Consumer Choice Center, said “enacting a flavor ban for vaping products will do more harm than good as it will push adult consumers to switch back to smoking combustible tobacco. Considering that studies have shown vaping to be 95% less harmful than smoking, ensuring that adult consumers have access to the vaping products they prefer will ultimately lead to fewer cigarette smoking-related deaths within the state.

“More than 4.1% of Maine’s adult population uses vaping products, accounting for over 54,000 consumers within the state who have switched to a healthier alternative to combustible tobacco. Banning flavored vaping products will encourage these former smokers to switch back to smoking cigarettes and will ultimately lead to increases in smoking-related healthcare costs, which are already costing (state) taxpayers over $262.6 million annually,” said Ossowski.

“If a flavor ban is enacted, then consumers will likely look towards the black market in order to get access to their preferred flavored vaping products. This presents serious concerns for public health as vapers will be purchasing unregulated products that could be extremely dangerous to their wellbeing.

“In addition to endangering public health, pushing consumers to the black market through a flavor ban will also be to the detriment of many vape shops throughout the state as many of their products will no longer be available. After already suffering through the economic hardships of the pandemic, this bill could effectively kill many of these small businesses already struggling to stay afloat. 

“Instead of implementing misguided flavor bans, lawmakers should embrace vaping products in order to protect public health, small businesses, and consumer choice throughout the state,” said Ossowski.

The Consumer Choice Center commissioned the market research company Savanta to survey European consumers on four different EU policy-making areas: Consumer Choice and Government; Innovation & Sharing Economy; Agriculture & Food; and Science & Energy.

In February 2022, 500 people were surveyed in Belgium on their views on innovation, nuclear energy, agriculture, sharing economy, and government intervention in the economy.

Maria Chaplia, the Research Manager at the Consumer Choice Center, said: “The polling results are encouraging. European consumers overwhelmingly appreciate consumer choice. A wide array of agricultural regulations put forward by the EU and member states are at odds with what European consumers want.”

Key findings:

• 67% of European consumers would like the European Union to embrace technologies that make food more affordable.
• 59% of European consumers trusted farmers to use crop protection products adequately to make safe food.
• 33% of European consumers agree that the EU is too cautious about genetically modified organisms.
• 59% of consumers interviewed agree that the European Union often over regulates at the expense of European Consumers.
• 73% of consumers think that the European Union should be more open to innovative solutions.

“The EU shouldn’t restrict farmers’ freedom to use the preferred crop protection tools to avoid these unintended consequences. Alternatively, the EU should consider legalizing genetic modification. European consumers trust farmers to choose crop protection tools to make food safe. Despite popular rhetoric, there is no substantial scientific evidence of the health and environmental risks ascribed to GM products,” said Chaplia.

“The war in Ukraine, one of the largest wheat exporters in the world, threatens European and global food security. At such a challenging time, the EU cannot simply afford to pursue expensive organic ambitions. Now is the time to embrace innovation over unjustified precaution,” concluded Chaplia.

Consumer Choice Center published a new factsheet with the latest research demonstrating why vaping is not a gateway to smoking.

Main findings:

• Fact number 1. The essence of e-cigarettes is different from that of conventional cigarettes, and their purpose is to serve as a safer alternative that reduces health-associated risks.
• Fact number 2. Nicotine, also found in e-cigarettes and used in conventional nicotine replacement therapy, doesn’t increase the risk of serious illnesses (heart attack, stroke) or mortality.
• Fact number 3. Youth use of e-cigarettes is rare and most users are current or former smokers. 
• Fact number 4. Vaping flavour bans might increase the cigarette uptake among teens and young adults and push adult vapers back to smoking.

“Most anti-vaping arguments fail to take into account the fact that vaping devices target tobacco consumers. This is similar to sugar consumption by people who suffer from diabetes: sugar substitutes are not a gateway to sugar because consumers switch to avoid the harmful effects of sugar. Sugar substitutes are not blamed for increased sugar consumption, and vaping devices serve a similar purpose should be equally endorsed,” said Maria Chaplia, Research Manager at the Consumer Choice Center and a co-author of the paper.

“We want our factsheet to be used by policymakers in Europe and across the world as a guide to a pro-consumer, pro-science, and pro-choice approach to lifestyle regulations. Vaping does help adult smokers quit. Our factsheet provides a valuable overview of the main studies on vaping, and we hope it will increase awareness of this harm reduction tool,” concluded Chaplia.

Today, the Consumer Choice Center, a global consumer advocacy group, released the updated 2022 Pandemic Resilience Index to overview global health system preparedness for COVID-19 and other viruses.

The Index examines 40 countries through the following factors: vaccination drive, booster programme launch, time lags that have put brakes on it, critical care bed capacity, and mass testing.

In 2021, the Consumer Choice Center published the Pandemic Resilience Index, with March 31, 2021 as the cut off date. The original results found that the UAE was the second most prepared country. The updated Index incorporates the new data between the end of March and late November, 2021, and additionally considers the booster programme.

“The UAE was the pioneer of the booster rollout. Countries such as New Zealand, Ukraine, Australia, Spain and Canada took 5 months longer to get it up and running. Compared to the initial results, the change in the ranking is largely due to the booster vaccine rollout delays. Israel, the most resilient country, according to the original Index, started giving out boosters 75 days later than the UAE,” said Maria Chaplia, Research Manager at the Consumer Choice Center and author of the Index.

“We also considered the relative change in testing, compared to the original index. Although Greece’s increase was highest, the UAE was among the top five countries to have increased their testing. Luxembourg and Sweden, for contrast, reduced their testing,” added Chaplia.

“We recognise that there are limitations to what this Index can achieve, as well as there might be a minor margin of error. However, it holds that vaccination and testing capacity remain a critical weapon against new strains of COVID. Most countries have learned the importance of testing, but the booster vaccination rollout experienced significant delays. The index should be seen as a reminder that there are countries that do it better — such as the UAE, Cyprus, and Bahrain — and they should be further explored as success stories,” concluded Chaplia.