Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on outgoing Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb to ensure a ban is placed on kid-friendly e-cigarette flavors like candies, juices, fruits and cookies before he leaves office.

Schumer, a Democrat from New York, also demanded that the nominee to head the FDA pledge to build on Gottlieb’s work.

“I’m publicly calling on Commissioner Gottlieb to ensure the ban on kid-friendly e-cig flavors is enacted within the month before he leaves. Because a ban on the kid-friendly flavors is in the pipeline. Now with him leaving, it’s in jeopardy,” Schumer said of Gottlieb, whom he called a “breath of fresh air.”

Schumer held up a picture of flavored e-cig packages and said: “Look at these flavors, do you think these flavors are aimed at adults?”

The Democratic leader in the Senate explained that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that youth tobacco use has reached its highest level in years – and attribute that increase to e-cigarettes.

He said the CDC believes the products are a pathway to cigarettes and are reversing the progress made on preventing young people from smoking.

According to the CDC, the rate of high school students using e-cigarettes nearly doubled to 20.8 percent from 11.7 percent between 2017 and 2018.

Last year, the rate of overall tobacco use jumped from 19.6 percent to 27.1 percent, the CDC said.

Schumer said some companies that sell e-cigarettes have stopped marketing to minors, but “we need to do more.”

Juul Labs, one of the largest e-cigarette companies in the US, said it is committed to reducing usage among youth while offering the product as an alternative to tobacco cigarettes for adults.

“As part of our action plan to keep JUUL products out of the hands of youth, we stopped the sale of flavored JUULpods to retail stores, strengthened our retail compliance, enhanced our online age-verification, exited our Facebook and Instagram accounts and are continuously working to remove inappropriate third-party social media content,” said Ted Kwong, a Juul Labs spokesman. “We need category wide action to further combat youth usage of all e-vapor products along with the passage of Tobacco 21 laws which have been shown to dramatically reduce youth smoking rates.”

Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, a non-profit group that advocates responsible regulations for vapor products, said Schumer is wrong to call the FDA’s planned actions a ban.

“Commissioner Gottlieb has recognized that some flavors are important to helping adults quit, so his plan will keep flavors available in adult-only environments like vape shops,” Conley said in a statement. “These shops employ several thousands of New Yorkers, but Senator Schumer has repeatedly pushed for policies that would force these stores to close their doors.”

Gottlieb, appointed in May 2017, announced March 5 that he would be stepping down in a month.