Vapes could be sold in plain packaging as part of a range of proposals to stop them being marketed to children.
The UK-wide plans also include limiting device colours to white, black or grey, and keeping vapes out of sight in shops, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Other potential changes include restrictions on flavour descriptions, allowing simple names such as “apple” while banning names linked to sweets, desserts and alcohol.
The health secretary, James Murray, told the Press Association that the government was launching a 12-week consultation about “our plans to make vaping less attractive for children and young people”.
He said: “We all know that the way that some of the vaping products are promoted – the very colourful packaging and names that might be aimed at children and young people. That’s wrong because we want to make sure that, as well as being a smoke-free generation, we want children and young people not to start vaping in the first place.”
Figures suggest that nearly one in five (19%) 11-17-year-olds in Britain have tried vaping, according to a poll conducted on behalf of the charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).
Prof Steve Turner, the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, welcomed the consultation. “For those of us working with children every day, it is clear that only strong and meaningful regulation will protect them from the harms associated with nicotine addiction,” he said.
Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Ash, said: “Protecting children from harmful vape marketing is the right thing to do. Attractive, colourful branding and images have driven the appeal of vapes to children leading to an increase in use.”
The Department of Health said the consultation includes plans for white packaging for vapes with restrictions on text colour, imagery, branding and standardised product information.
Young people said in a study by UCL and King’s College London that their peers would be less likely to use vapes if they were sold in plain packaging. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Officials said the move follows the success of standardised packaging for cigarettes since 2017.
The consultation also proposes inserts for cigarette packs telling smokers where to get help to quit and plans to enforce plain packaging rules on all tobacco products – including rolling paper and cigars.
Exemptions which allow duty-free shops and airports to display tobacco products would be removed, meaning cigarettes and other tobacco products would be restricted from view in these settings.
Cheeseman added: “There is a careful balance to strike with regulations. While vapes are not harm free, they are significantly less harmful than smoking and vapes have helped millions of people successfully stop smoking in recent years.”
Research published last year concluded that adults were still likely to buy e-cigarettes sold in plain packs. In the study, led by UCL and King’s College London researchers, adults and children and young people aged 11 to 18 were shown vape packs.
Children were asked about whether they felt their peers would be interested in trying the product, while adults were asked if they themselves would be interested in trying it.
Among the children and young people questioned, half (53%) said their peers would be interested in trying vapes in their usual packaging, according to the study, which was published in the Lancet Regional Health Europe.
This dropped to 38% when they were shown vapes in standardised packs with usual flavour descriptions.
Interest from adults remained the same whether the packaging was plain or branded.
