One of the many ways that vaping beats smoking is the sheer variety of flavors available in e cigarette cartridges. For one thing, there are some basic limitations on what flavors can effectively be added to traditional cigarettes, called “analogs” in the vaping community. Also, analogs are strictly limited in what kinds of flavor they can market in many countries, but these restrictions do not apply to vaping.

E-Cig Flavor Possibilities That Are Impossible With Cigarettes

If you have spent a reasonable amount of time on vaping forums, you have probably encountered a host of adventurous juice blends. Some experimenters have created such flavors as bacon and waffles, butter, beer, butter, roast beef and pizza. While some more conservative vapers may think that these flavors are going a bit too far in experimentation, one fact remains. Not a single one of these  flavors could appear in traditional cigarettes. Most of them would most likely just burn and not flavor the smoke at all.

The reason this is possible in vaping and not smoking is in the divergent ways these different nicotine sources can be flavored. Vapor devices use food-grade flavorings, which retain their taste when evaporated into steam. Since analogs are burned rather than vaporized, they rely on solid material, or an individual smoker can add oils to the cigarette before smoking. While the scent and flavors of some materials can be recognizable when they are burned, others don't.

Flavors in Smokless Cigarettes Are Not Regulated Like Analogs

In 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA) into US law. Among many other restrictions on the tobacco industry, this law prohibits flavored cigarettes including fruit, spice, and candy flavored analogs. Most smokers became aware of this law when it became public that clove cigarettes were outlawed. Menthol cigarettes are currently the only exception to this rule, but that may change soon. The World Health Organization pointed out to the FDA that menthol smokes are flavored cigarettes in accordance to FSPTCA rules. The FDA has made the suggestion to Congress to make this amendment, and it is still under consideration. 

The regulatory agencies in the United States have not applied the FSPTCA or any similar law to flavors in e cigarette cartridges. While it may be true that pizza or roast beef flavored vapor may not be your cup of tea, there is still a vast selection of more conventional flavors for you to choose from—from the popular tobacco, menthol, clove and strawberry to the more unconventional apple, grape, lemon and more.