WASHINGTON (AP) — Four months after U.S. regulators tried to block imports of Elf Bar, the top-selling Chinese disposable e-cigarette remains widely available thanks to a simple but effective tactic: a name change.
In May, it directed customs officials to seize incoming shipments of Elf Bar and EBDesign, two of the company's U.S. brand names.
Elf Bar generated U.S. sales of over $271 million in the past year, according to retail data tracker Nielsen.
Public records show how quickly Elf Bar was able to rebrand itself when the FDA announced its import ban in May.
“FDA has confiscated more heads of romaine lettuce than it has illegal e-cigarettes in the last five years,” said Jenson.
Persons:
”, Desmond Jenson, Brian King, ” King, Nielsen, EBCreate, Rob Handfield, Jenson, “, Matthew Perrone
Organizations:
WASHINGTON, Washington D.C, Drug Administration, FDA, Public Health Law Center, Associated Press, AP, U.S . Patent, iMiracle, iMiracle Shenzhen Technology, Nevera HK Limited, Shenzhen, U.S, North Carolina State University . “ Customs, Border Patrol, Department of Justice, Regulators, Twitter, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group
Locations:
Washington, Philadelphia , New York, U.S, Los Angeles, Houston, iMiracle Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Mexico, Shenzhen, romaine