Juul suspends online sales of fruit, dessert flavours for e-cigarettes in U.S.

Juul Labs will stop online sales of fruit and dessert flavours for its electronic cigarettes in the U.S., nearly a year after halting in-store purchases.

The voluntary step announced Thursday is the company's latest concession as it tries to weather a political backlash blaming flavoured nicotine products for getting a generation of teenagers hooked on them.

Juul pulled the fruit and dessert flavours out of stores last November.

The most recent move is unlikely to satisfy the company's critics. Juul will continue selling its most popular vaping flavours: mint and menthol. Those products account for more than 60 per centof Juul's retail sales, according to analysts. They are also the most popular flavours among teens.

The flavoured pods affected by the announcement are mango, creme, fruit and cucumber.

Those flavours account for about 10 per cent of the company's sales and were only available on its website with what the company saidwere "strict age-verification controls."

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Juulthat it was misleading consumers by marketing its products assafer than cigarettes, and requested more information onits nicotine blend.

Soon after, U.S. President Donald Trump'sadministrationannounced plans to ban all flavoured e-cigarette products, citingalarming growth in teenage use of the products.

Last month, JuulCEOKevin Burnsstepped down.

Juul's new chief executive, K.C. Crosthwaite, a veteran ofMarlboro maker Altria Group Inc,said in a statementThursday that the companyneeds to "[earn]the trust ofsociety," by co-operating with regulators andpolicymakers.

More illnesses reported

Elsewhere in the U.S. on Thursday, health officials reported 33 deaths and 1,479 confirmed orprobable casesfrom a mysterious respiratory illness tied to vaping. The 180 new cases in the past week was the lowest weekly increase since mid-September.

Investigators havesuggested vaping oils containingTHC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is especially risky.

Last week, health officials said there may be multiple causesbehind the illness and that its cause may notbe the same across the U.S.

The spate of serious respiratory illnesses has led to U.S.officials urging people to stop vaping, especially thoseproducts containing THC.

As of Thursday, five confirmed or probable cases of severe lung illness related to vaping have been reported in Canada: two confirmed in Quebec, two probable cases in New Brunswick and another probable case in B.C.

Last week, the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health said while the illnessis under investigation, they recommend all Canadians to:

• Consider refraining from using e-cigarettes or vaping products, particularly any that have been purchased illegally, including any that contain THC.
• See a health-care provider immediately if, after recent use of a vaping product,you have symptoms of pulmonary illness (e.g., cough, shortness of breath, chest pain) like those reported in the outbreak.
• Not return to smoking cigarettes if you are using nicotine-containing vaping products as a means of quitting cigarette smoking.

No single ingredient, electronic cigarette or vaping device has beenlinked to all the illnesses.