New government analysis says keeping vaping products out of sight in shops in England may mean many fewer children go on to try them.
The findings add momentum to a broader push to strip e-cigarettes of youth-focused appeal, from brightly colored packaging to playful flavor descriptions.
Here's what to know
In government impact assessments, officials estimated that tougher shop-display rules in England could mean 38,000 fewer children experiment with vaping, according to The Independent. The same papers projected that more than half a million 11- to 17-year-olds would no longer see vaping products in stores.
The documents also projected less in-store exposure to other nicotine products, with hundreds of thousands of children in that age group potentially avoiding displays of heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches. They were designed to assess whether making the products less visible would reduce both exposure and children's willingness to try them.
All of this sits within a set of anti-youth-vaping measures ministers unveiled. Beyond hiding products in stores, the package includes proposals for plain packaging, standardized device designs, and tighter rules on flavor descriptions that may make the products more appealing to younger shoppers.
More background
The measures arrive amid broader concern about youth nicotine use in England. According to The Independent, a 2025 report from the teachers' union NASUWT found that 13% of 4,000 teachers said pupils used nicotine pouches during the school day, suggesting the issue now extends beyond vaping alone.
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The impact assessment did note a possible downside: Restrictions could also make vapes less appealing to adult smokers who might otherwise use them to quit cigarettes. But the assessment added, "However, using packaging as an example, preliminary evidence from recent studies suggests that changes to packaging are unlikely to impact adults' appeal."
What's being done?
Ministers are also proposing plain white packaging for vapes alongside restrictions on flavor descriptions. Because evidence specific to vape packaging is limited, the impact assessment drew on research into standardized cigarette packs.
"The impact assessment on standardised packaging of tobacco estimated an 11% reduction in the prevalence of ever smoking as a result of restrictions on tobacco packaging," the assessment said. "If this effect were applied to vaping, and using the 25% prevalence of ever vaping among 11-to-15-year-olds… the prevalence could potentially decrease to 22%."
The government is also considering standardizing the devices themselves. Vapes would be limited to black, white, or grey, while heated tobacco products could be required to use a "dissuasive colour, likely Pantone 448C." A separate assessment cited research that "supports a potential reduction in the number of people being interested in trying a standardised (white) vape, compared to a branded (coloured) vape."
Doctors representing children at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have urged the government to go further by limiting the types of flavors available, not just the wording used to describe them.
England's chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, has said marketing vapes to children is "utterly unacceptable."
Where can I learn more?
For more context on the wider debate over youth vaping, these stories examine other efforts to limit teen appeal and how regulators balance that with concerns about adult smokers. They cover plain packaging, teen vaping trends, FDA decisions on flavored products, flavored-vape bans, and tougher pricing proposals abroad.
• In the U.K., experts say plain cigarette packaging could deter teens without discouraging adults.
• U.S. officials say youth vape use fell sharply as prevention funding raised awareness.
• In the United States, fruit-flavored vapes won FDA clearance even as doctors warned about teen appeal.
• In Malaysia, officials proposed cigarette-level taxes on vapes to curb rising demand.
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