UK Elf Bars Overfilled? Reporting Mistakes & Truth Uncovered

You may have seen the recent news articles about overfilled disposable vapes in the UK, with popular brands such as Elf Bar, Lost Mary, and Crystal Bar under the microscope. Let’s break down these claims and find out what they mean for you!

Recent news articles have come out saying that some of the UK’s most popular vapes are breaking regulations—namely that they’re overfilled. Some articles are even saying that the vapes contain more than the legal amount of nicotine.

Spoiler alert: one of these claims is false.

Let’s break down what’s really happening with disposable vapes in the UK.

In addition, they found that certain Lost Mary vapes were overfilled by 80%, with 3.6ml of liquid—nearly double the legal limit!

As a result, Elf Bar has “wholeheartedly apologised” and promptly called a meeting with the MHRA to discuss rectifying the issue, with the head of the UKVIA (UK Vaping Industry Association) in attendance.

Elf Bar issued a statement explaining the mistake, saying that disposables entering the UK were mistakenly fitted with tank sizes intended for sale in other countries.

Following their meeting with the MHRA, Elf Bar made the decision to voluntarily withdraw all of its non-compliant products from the market. Retailers and wholesalers across the country had the products pulled and replaced with compliant products and sales resumed.

Several major supermarkets—including Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s—have pulled the infringing products from their shelves (UK giant Waitrose announced the same, even though they don’t stock the disposables—only tobacco products).

Do overfilled disposables have more nicotine?

Various news outlets and tabloids (including the Mail, who commissioned the independent report) have reported that these overfilled disposables contain “illegal levels of nicotine”—which is false.

The legal nicotine limit on all E-Liquids and disposable vapes here in the UK is 20mg/ml (2%). This means that E-Liquids cannot exceed 20mg per millilitre by volume. Your average 2ml disposable vape with a 2% strength thus contains 40mg of nicotine total.

The overfilled disposables in question were found to have the correct amount of nicotine by volume. They simply contained a greater volume of E-Liquid, as referenced in Elf Bar’s statement (shown below).

Now, of course these overfilled disposables contain more nicotine than other disposables on the market for the sheer fact that they have a higher volume of E-Liquid. Still, the concentration of nicotine in the vape is no higher than any other disposable on the market—there’s just more E-Liquid to vape.

Consider this: you’re mixing two glasses of cordial—one small glass, one large glass. You want each glass to be exactly the same strength. You’ll need to use more squash in the taller glass, no?

Why is my disposable vape running out faster?

Wondering why your Elf Bar is running out quicker now?

As a result of this kerfuffle, since the overfilled disposables have been pulled and replaced with TPD-compliant versions, you’ll likely find that your disposable vapes are lasting less time than they used to.

We’ve heard concerns from customers who believe their disposables are faulty or counterfeit, given that they’re now producing far fewer puffs than they used to. Unfortunately, this is the new reality of vaping Elf Bars, Lost Marys, and Crystal Bar disposables. And to make matters worse, retailers are left facing the brunt of customers’ complaints.

The disposable vapes you purchase from us are 100% genuine, sourced either from the manufacturer directly or from a reputable UK distributor. If you’re ever in any doubt about the legitimacy of a product you’ve purchased from us, we encourage you to verify your product via the manufacturer’s official website. Fake Elf Bars and Lost Mary vapes are being found all over the UK, so don’t be caught out.

Disposable manufacturers who actually comply with the 2ml limit in the UK have long had to deal with the critique that their devices simply don’t last as long as an Elf Bar or Lost Mary vape. Go figure. At least now we’ve levelled the playing field.

So, if you’re finding that your disposables are running out faster than they once did, it’s likely because you’re using one of the new TPD-compliant disposable vapes.

Are overfilled disposable vapes dangerous?

It’s important to note that if these overfilled disposables were any more dangerous than other compliant vape products on the market, they would’ve been recalled. Instead, Elf Bar voluntarily chose to withdraw the non-compliant products from sale.

Activists behind this proposed regulation change believe that increasing the limit from 2ml to 4ml, for example, would raise the price of disposables from £5 each to £10 each, which would mean that fewer minors could afford to buy disposable vapes with their pocket money.

So essentially, while the overfilled disposables have created an unfair advantage for Elf Bars over similar compliant products (since they have more longevity in comparison) and have flouted regulation, they pose no more danger to consumers than any other vape products do.

Summary

So, now that we’ve got the facts straight, let’s break down what we’ve learned:

• Some Elf Bar, Lost Mary, and Crystal Bar flavours were found to be overfilled by over 50%
• They do not contain “illegal levels of nicotine” (>20mg/ml or 2%)
• Your disposables may now produce fewer puffs than you’re used to
• UK newspapers really need to get their facts straight and stop misinforming the public (what else is new?)

So, there you have it. If you’ve still got a few non-compliant vapes in your inventory, you can rest assured that you’re not exposing yourself to any more harm than you would with a compliant vape.

And if you’re upset about the lesser puff counts, we hear you.