Kroger the latest retailer to discontinue sale of e-cigarettes

Kroger is the latest chain to stop selling electronic cigarettes.The Cincinnati-based company said Monday it plans to discontinue the "sale of electronic nicotine delivery products, or e-cigarettes, at all store and fuel center locations due to the mounting questions and increasingly-complex regulatory environment associated with these products."The discontinue after selling through its current inventory.The grocer also owns Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Fred Meyer and other store brands.It's the latest in a growing list of retailers to halt sales of electronic cigarettes.In the midst of a nationwide outbreak of vaping-related illnesses that has resulted in several deaths, several big retailers across the nations are ceasing to sell the products.Federal investigators say that nearly 80 percent of people who have come down with the vaping illness reported using products containing THC, the high-inducing chemical found in marijuana.They have not traced the problem to any single product or ingredient. But investigators are increasingly focused on thickeners and additives found in illegal THC cartridges sold on the black market.On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration specifically warned the public not to vape THC or purchase any vaping products off the street.

Kroger is the latest chain to stop selling electronic cigarettes.

The Cincinnati-based company said Monday it plans to discontinue the "sale of electronic nicotine delivery products, or e-cigarettes, at all store and fuel center locations due to the mounting questions and increasingly-complex regulatory environment associated with these products."


The discontinue after selling through its current inventory.

The grocer also owns Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Fred Meyer and other store brands.

It's the latest in a growing list of retailers to halt sales of electronic cigarettes.

In the midst of a nationwide outbreak of vaping-related illnesses that has resulted in several deaths, several big retailers across the nations are ceasing to sell the products.

Federal investigators say that nearly 80 percent of people who have come down with the vaping illness reported using products containing THC, the high-inducing chemical found in marijuana.

They have not traced the problem to any single product or ingredient. But investigators are increasingly focused on thickeners and additives found in illegal THC cartridges sold on the black market.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration specifically warned the public not to vape THC or purchase any vaping products off the street.