A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official said that as of next week, the department would ban the sale of electronic cigarettes in fruit and dessert flavors.
The ban will include groceries and gas stations, in a move aimed at counteracting increased teen demand.
The ban means tobacco cigarettes, mints and pickles will only be available at outlets, a major blow to San Francisco-based Gel Labs, which specializes in the manufacture of electronic cigarettes, the official said.
The department will also tighten age verification procedures for e-cigarette sales over the Internet, Reuters reported.
Pressure for action to curb e-cigarettes has risen after preliminary federal government data showed that teenagers' use of these cigarettes has increased by more than 75 percent since last year, and described it as a "pandemic".
The increase in demand for electronic cigarettes coincides with sales of Gul Labs, which grew from 2.2 million units in 2016 to 16.2 million last year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In September, the Food and Drug Administration threatened to ban the sale of Joule's products and four other large companies producing electronic cigarettes unless steps were taken to prevent minors from using them.
The management gave these companies 60 days to submit plans to impose restrictions on the use of minors for their products, which is nearing completion.
