Juul CEO Kevin Burns Says He’s ‘Not Surprised at All’ by Proposed Ban

Juul CEO Kevin Burns said the e-cigarette company supports a federal reset of flavor restrictions and would comply with any guidelines the Food and Drug Administration issues on the matter during a visit with the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board. After President Trump said Wednesday his administration was considering a federal ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, Burns said he was “not surprised at all” by the “hard reset” approach. “When we took flavors off shelves, it was surprising the speed with which they were replaced (by other flavored products made by other companies), usually with higher nicotine strength, all youth-oriented flavors and cheaper, of unknown manufacturing quality. That’s problematic,” he told the Chronicle. But he said the company would comply with any flavor ban and simply “not offer flavors anymore.”

Fruity e-cigarette flavors have been attributed to the product’s popularity among teenagers, and have also contributed to Juul’s success. But e-cigarettes have come under scrutiny amid hundreds of cases of a mysterious lung ailment linked to vaping. Burns on Wednesday acknowledged it was a “possibility” that Juul products are linked to the illnesses but stressed that the company has “incredibly high quality standards.”