There has been some confusion in the Ontario market place whether the ITSA flavour cards are a tobacco product and should be governed by the Ontario Smoke Free Act or not.
As a background, ITSA is a way to infuse any dry food and dry beverage products with flavor and aroma. To use it, the consumer would remove the packaging, put the card into a closed container with your…, then wait for the flavor to take hold.
So how does ITSA fit in with the Smoke Free Act?
It is the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s (MOHLTC) view that the Itsa flavour card does not violate the prohibition on promotion in section 3.1(3) of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA) as it is not marketed by its packaging or labelling as a flavour card for tobacco.
However, if the product is marketed by the retailer at the point of sale as a product to enhance the flavour of tobacco (e.g., explaining to consumers that the flavour cards should be used to infuse tobacco with flavour), this would view this as a violation of the promotion restriction under section 3.1 (3) of the SFOA, and the retailer will be charged.
