Sainsburys and Morrisons told to stop advertising heated tobacco
The government has written to Sainsbury's and Morrisons asking them to stop "advertising and promoting" heated tobacco products, which it says is against the law.The BBC reported in February the supermarkets were displaying posters and video screens showing devices which create a nicotine-containing vapour by heating tobacco with an electric current.At the time, both supermarkets said they believed the adverts were legal.In response to the letter, Sainsbury's said it was in "close contact with the government", while Morrisons said it would reply "in due course".
In 2002, the Labour government under Tony Blair passed a law banning tobacco advertising. It defined a tobacco product as something designed to be "smoked, sniffed, sucked or chewed".Morrisons has argued that this means that it doesn't apply to heated tobacco products, as they don't produce smoke.Advertising for Philip Morris International's (PMI) iQos heated tobacco device on posters and video screens was still on display in Sainsbury's and Morrisons stores visited by the BBC in June, where they were visible to children.PMI said it believes the Department of Health's interpretation of the law is wrong, and said it has "complied with all applicable laws and regulations" since it launched iQos in 2016.The government has now written to the supermarkets clarifying that in its opinion, the law does apply to these products.A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson told the BBC: "In May, we wrote to supermarkets reiterating that the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002… applies to all tobacco products currently on the market, and formally requested they stop advertising and promoting heated tobacco products in stores."All tobacco products are harmful to health," the spokesperson added.
Surveys by the charity Action on Smoking and Health suggest that awareness of heated tobacco products has risen sharply over the past year, and is even higher among young adults, compared with those over 40.
Among 11 to 17-year-olds, nearly a quarter had heard of heated tobacco, up from 7.1% in 2022, the last time they were surveyed.Some 3.3% of respondents to their survey said they had tried heated tobacco, and for 11 to 17-year-olds, the figure was 2.7%. While low, the charity said this was still "worryingly similar to the levels of use among adults".Experts say that although research on the health effects of heated tobacco is limited, it is likely to be less harmful than cigarettes, but worse for you than vapes, and less effective at helping smokers quit.Are heated tobacco products a new health risk?A spokesperson for Morrisons said it was reviewing the letter and would respond "in due course".Sainsbury's said it believed its ads were compliant with the law. A spokesperson said: "We remain in close contact with the government and industry partners and are planning our transition to ensure we also comply with planned incoming legislation."It would be for a court to rule definitively whether the government is right that heated tobacco advertising is banned under current law - but so far no-one has brought a case.The law will be clarified when the government passes the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which is expected to conclusively ban all tobacco and vape advertising and sponsorship.The bill is making its way through parliament and is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords.Hazel Cheeseman, the chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, urged the government to pass the law as quickly as possible. "It is outrageous that certain supermarkets still do not seem to be prepared to comply with the law, even when told they are in breach."The longer this takes to resolve, the more children will be exposed to tobacco product marketing," she added.The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act applies UK-wide, but health is a devolved issue. The devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland all said they agreed with the DHSC in England that advertising heated tobacco is banned.Asda and Tesco both said they do not accept tobacco advertising.
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A TEENAGER with just days to live was forced to evade security guards as he fled through a hospital, before jumping into a getaway car - just so he could die at home. Teddie Marks, 18, was wheelchair-bound, with his legs swelled up from cancer but was able to show off his athletic prowess one last time during the comedic mad dash. 15 15 Mum Jay - who is campaigning for more access to grief counselling for bereaved families - explained how everything had been put in place to allow her son to receive palliative care at the family's home in Braintree, Essex. However, at the last minute, as they left University College London Hospital they were confusingly told Teddie had to stay, against his wishes. Security was called and they were to be blocked from leaving - but the adventurous young man was having none of it. Mum-of-three Jay, 42, said: 'He's 18, they got all his paperwork ready, they gave us all his medication, they said to us he was going to be blue-lighted because from UCLH to Braintree it's a bit of a drive. 'Then they said they were going to get a normal ambulance but I would have to sign responsibility for him, which was fine… then we're told that's been cancelled.' Jay continued: 'In the end, the palliative care nurse fitted him up with a 24-hour pump so that we could get him home and hook him up to the machine.' 'That makes no sense' The family then got into a lift on the 15th floor with the palliative care nurse, alongside a 'bag of medication' and all of Teddie's things from weeks of being in and out of hospital - when they hit another speed bump. 'On the way down she had a call and she was like 'right okay', then she said 'they've called security',' explained Jay. 'We were like what? That makes no sense because she was with us and he'd been discharged. 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Joseph's two aunts, who had been with them at the hospital, stayed behind and later told the family the nurse burst into tears. 'She was crying and she was saying 'I'm happy they got to go' because it wasn't her that had called security - it had been higher up,' explained Jay. 'They'd already given him his discharge papers and everything we needed, it made no sense. It's funny to look back on now, what everyone else must have been thinking.' 15 15 15 That was on July 12 2024 and on the 14th Teddie finally passed away. It had been a tough journey since his shock diagnosis at age 16 in 2022 with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in soft tissue. 'It's quite rare but quite aggressive, and it tends to come back even if you get rid of it,' explained Jay. 'He did have a six-month period when he got rid of the cancer, and then he relapsed in July 2023, and then we've had a long battle.' Trips to Germany The family was told there was nothing more the NHS could offer and so they spent tens of thousands of pounds, via GoFundMe, to travel to Germany multiple times - the last of which was days before Teddie died. 'We'd been seeing different professors that had tried different treatments,' said Jay. 'Unfortunately, the last professor we tried, he was having some success, and the month after that treatment, Teddie was feeling much better. 'All the swelling in his legs had gone down, he was feeling much better, but by that time the cancer had spread and we didn't catch it.' Teddie knew he was dying as he'd flown to Germany the last time, but didn't want to give up. 'His words were 'I'm not going to die without trying',' said Jay. 'He was fighting the whole time.' Asked if he'd been able to get alternative treatment sooner she believes her son could have survived, Jay said: 'I think so. The NHS will say 'no, no' but they are so ignorant to what is out there in Europe, it's unbelievable.' 15 15 After Teddie relapsed in March 2023 he was given an operation and it was 'made clear' by the consultants that they'd 'tripled checked' with the surgeons that Teddie's cancer could be removed with 'clear margins', said Jay. 'Because if it couldn't they weren't going to touch it. They said 'the surgeons are really sure'.' 'After the operation, as soon as Teddie came round, he said 'did you get it with clear margins?' and they said 'we can't be sure'. 'It must not have been checked properly,' Jay said. 'When he had scans four to six weeks after the op, nodules had appeared. 'I think at that point if we'd gone to Germany, Teddie would have stood a better chance.' £100,000 in 24 hours The GoFundMe page set up to help the teen receive alternative treatments 'went over £100,000 in the first 24 hours', said Jay. 'GoFundMe got in touch to say they had never seen one go up that quickly.' 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'There were days after he got diagnosed where I couldn't get up, couldn't function and he would come in and say to me, 'up you get, Mum'. 'He had such strong faith, he was quite religious - even when Teddie was dying, he had all the family here and was cuddling his girl cousins and he said 'don't cry for me, I know where I'm going.' 'That boy was absolutely something else.' Teddie had first been getting pain in August 2021, and by November he was 'in agony' and 'was up three or four nights straight', said Jay, who took him to A&E multiple times. However, they were sent away again and again and told to take over the counter painkillers. 15 15 15 Jay said Teddie was 'very robust', he was captain of Chelmsford City EJA, but even his pain threshold was being pushed to the limit. Eventually, the family paid for a private doctor and MRI scan, then an operation which found abscesses. The doctor sent off for a biopsy at UCLH and then a week later a phone call confirmed the worst. 'It was during lockdown so everything was a bit dodgy,' said Jay. 'I got told over the phone that Teddie had cancer and was given a treatment plan.' During his treatment Teddie refused to stop, and passed his GCSE Maths and English - the latter to an A* standard - while undergoing chemotherapy. And even passed his driving test. But while his memory lives on, Jay is still as heartbroken now as she was a year ago. 'You can't prepare yourself' 'You know it's coming but you can't prepare yourself,' she said of her son's death. 'I can't put it into words, it's coming up to a year but I'm still devastated every day. Me and his dad, brother and sister, and his nan. There's not a day that goes by that we don't cry.' She added, of her children: 'They'll always be my babies.' Taking up the baton left by Teddie, his mum is now campaigning herself to raise awareness about the wait times families must endure to receive grief counselling. After filling out a form she was told by the hospice the waiting list is nine to 12 months. Jay said: 'Last week I had an email from Farleigh saying they've got this session thing, it's not one to one counselling, there's other people there. 'There's 10 spaces and to get back to them if I wanted a place. 'I saw the email, 40 minutes later, by the time I got back they'd emailed me saying all the spaces had gone.' Jay said she had another email from the hospice asking since it was a 'considerable amount of time since I put my application in for counselling, have my circumstances changed?' 'They did get an email back saying 'my circumstances haven't changed, unfortunately my son hasn't risen from the dead, I'm still grieving and still in need of support'. She continued: 'It's not going to change. I just can't get my head round that it can take this long to sort… any grief is bad, but when you've lost your child, I can't explain it. It's unexplainable.' Jay went on to say: 'I said to my doctor, 'they're lucky I'm not suicidal'. If he was my only child maybe I would be suicidal but I have two other children who I need to look after. It's not going to change. I just can't get my head round that it can take this long to sort… any grief is bad, but when you've lost your child, I can't explain it. It's unexplainable. Jay MarksMum of Teddie 'I carry the family's grief. My daughter, her and Teddie were 10 months apart - she's got ASD, so she's on the spectrum, and Teddie was her comfort blanket. 'She struggles really badly. Then my eldest son, who's 23 now, he will just struggle silently. 'I feel like I have to carry on because I don't want them to see my grieving and think they've got to carry my grief.' She added: 'I do feel passionately that there are parents going through this and you have to wait a year. We can't go privately. 'My husband sold his company when Teddie got diagnosed because we were backwards and forwards to UCLH. He's a caretaker now and I'm a support assistant in a school.' Jay said: 'I've lost people but nothing compares to losing your child, especially when you've watched your child go through what he did for two and a half years. 'You get a lot of flashbacks, I'm sure it's PTSD. You're replaying stuff continuously. It's traumatising when you hear your baby, though he was 18, in the night screaming in agony. 'It's traumatising to remember the running from the hospital, the taking him to Germany when he was in agony.' She described Teddie as 'my best mate', adding: 'I know parents say that about their kids but he was like my right arm. 'He was always with me, we were always together. We had the same sense of humour. We were always laughing. 'No one could get you in tears of laughter like Teddie could. For me, I'm still completely lost.' Michelle Kabia, Interim Chief Executive at Farleigh Hospice, said: 'Ensuring that the families of our patients receive the best quality support throughout their loved ones illness and afterwards is our absolute priority. "Our bereavement support services are offered free of charge to anyone within mid Essex. "As a result they are in incredibly high demand, as reflected in our current waiting lists, which we are actively working to reduce. 'We regularly stay in touch with people on the waiting list to check how they are, offer interim bereavement support options while they wait for one to one counselling, and check whether their circumstances have changed, as people may have accessed alternative support or moved out of the area. "We welcome all feedback and are continually looking to improve our services. We would be very happy to have a further conversation with the family.' The Sun has also approached University College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for comment
