Germany is moving to ban menthol vapes and a wide range of e-liquids containing cooling agents under draft regulations that could take effect later in 2026.
The proposal, put forward by the Federal Ministry for Agriculture, would prohibit menthol and other flavourings that use synthetic cooling additives on the grounds that they make vaping “more attractive.”
Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has argued that cooling effects may influence how products are inhaled. In its assessment, the institute said: “As the cooling effects make it easier to inhale, they can result in increased nicotine intake and possibly lead to greater dependence, especially among young and inexperienced users.”
However, the draft regulation also acknowledges that cooling agents are “poorly researched,” with “very limited” data available.
The planned ban would carry particular significance given that Germany, in line with the rest of the European Union, prohibited menthol cigarettes in 2020. Data indicates that smokers who previously used menthol cigarettes often seek similar flavours when switching to vapes.
Concerns over evidence base
Heino Stöver, professor of social science addiction research at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, said the evidence does not justify the scope of the proposal.
“The scientific evidence is not there” to support such a sweeping ban, he said.
“Ban on flavours will not help decrease the high smoking prevalence,” Stöver added. Germany’s goal of reducing its smoking rate to five percent or below by 2040 already appeared “unrealistic” before the proposal and now looks “even more unrealistic.”
Germany’s smoking rate is estimated at around 28 percent, equating to approximately 125,000 deaths annually.
Industry and consumer response
Consumer representatives argue that the draft rule would extend beyond menthol and affect a large share of products currently on the market.
Klaus Heckershoff, a German vape consumer, said the ban would include the sweetener sucralose as well as various synthetic cooling agents, “which are contained in many liquids that I use.”
When many popular e-liquids contain these ingredients, he argued that the so-called “menthol ban” would in practice affect almost all vapers.
Bundesverband Rauchfreie Alternative, the German consumer organisation for smoke-free alternatives, said that cooling agents are widely used in flavour formulations to “make them round – without it they are kind of unfinished, even if you cannot taste or notice the cooling.”
Board member Andreas Schimo described the proposal as “a disguised flavour ban.”
“A lot of consumers prefer flavours with cooling – such as ‘iced apple,’ over ‘apple’ – because it gives them a stronger throat hit, which in turn helps them to stay off cigarettes or even reduce the nicotine in their vapes,” Schimo said. “Unlike in cigarettes, cooling agents makes the inhalation harder and not easier.”
Schimo also challenged the comparison with combustible cigarettes. “While it’s true menthol makes the inhalation of tobacco smoke easier, you cannot transfer this to e-cigarettes,” he said. “Tobacco smoke leads to smoke-induced irritation of the airways. As e-cigarettes do not produce smoke, there is no smoke-induced irritation which would have to be cooled.”
He added that a previous BfR paper stated: “E-cigarettes do not release irritating combustion products whose effects would need to be masked by additives. Therefore, inhalation facilitated by menthol is significantly less relevant with these products than with tobacco cigarettes.”
According to Schimo, “Now they are saying the opposite without having any new research, data or science on this matter.”
The draft regulation remains under consideration and, if adopted, would introduce the restrictions later in 2026.
