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EXPLAINED: Why is there pressure on Denmark to ban cigarette candy

The World Health organisation has called upon the Danish government to ban the sale of cigarette candy after being "alarmed" at how many packets are sold each year.

Published: 11 July 2022 17:29 CEST
EXPLAINED: Why is there pressure on Denmark to ban cigarette candy
12 different types of candy cigarettes including chocolate and chewing gum. Photo: Bjørn Kähler/Nf-Nf/Ritzau Scanpix

Dr. Kremlin Wickramasinghe, head of the WHO’s European Office for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, told DR that he is “alarmed” that cigarette candy is sold on such a large scale in Denmark.

“Research shows that a product like candy cigarettes can help children develop a positive attitude towards smoking. It can help make smoking more socially acceptable and like normal behaviour,” he said.

Denmark’s tobacco-free generation plan

One of Wickramasinghe’s reasons for Denmark banning the cigarette candy was that it would help the country achieve its plan for a tobacco-free generation.

In March, the Danish government unveiled its idea to ban the sale of cigarettes and other nicotine products to anyone born after 2010.

People under 18 are not legally allowed to purchase cigarettes under current Danish laws, so although the ban would not have an effect for six years, it would prevent people born after 2010 from ever buying cigarettes.

There may be EU legal obstacles preventing the plan in its current form as it would require a change to the EU tobacco directive but the government has not  given up hope of implementing the rule in future.

How popular is cigarette candy in Denmark?

Candy cigarettes (slikcigaretter) are sweets that include chewing gum and chocolate, made to look like cigarettes, sold in colourful packages that look like real cigarette boxes. They are not sold in Danish supermarket chains such as Coop Netto, Føtex, Bilka and Kvickly, but they can still be bought at many kiosks and campsites. 

“There are 13 cigarettes in one pack, 32 packs in one box, and I sell at least six boxes in one season,” Per Nielsen, owner of Krakær Camping in Djursland, told national broadcaster DR News.

“They are, of course, made exactly like a cigarette. The children really go for them,” he said.

According to DR, the company Candinavia A / S, which supplies candy cigarettes, it sold 71,500 packages to Denmark between May 2021 and May 2022. This is an increase of three percent compared to the previous year.

“Although there is a lot of focus on how unhealthy smoking is these days, sales of this product continue at an unchanged pace. This is because children think it’s fun”, director of Candinavia A / S, Benny Ebsen told DR News.

Concerns over Denmark sales

The Danish Cancer Society believes it is a bad idea that candy cigarettes are being sold across Denmark this summer and have received some complaints from the public about why the product is sold. Rather than a specific ban of sales, the cancer society would rather individual shop sellers decide to remove the candy cigarettes from their shelves.

“We do not want Danish children and young people to become familiar with smoking….it is a form of marketing of cigarettes, and we are of course against that”, Niels Them Kjær, project manager for tobacco prevention told DR News.

“Some may think that it is nonsense to attack candy cigarettes, but it helps to normalise dealing with cigarettes and tobacco. If it’s fun with toy cigarettes, it’s at least as fun – maybe even more fun – with real cigarettes,”Jørgen Vestbo, professor of respiratory medicine at The University of Manchester said.

Candynavia director Benny Ebsen said he doesn’t believe that the product itself causes children and young people to start smoking and pointed out that it is not a new product.

Per Nielsen from Krakær Camping said that children aged as young as five buy the candy cigarettes but he was not concerned.

“I do not see any difference between candy cigarettes and a pack of chewing gum from Stimorol. It may well be that it looks like a cigarette, but if that is what sells, then it’s fine with me”,  Nielsen said.

DR News were unable to get a comment about the proposed ban from Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke.

Are candy cigarettes banned in other countries?

DR News says 87 countries have banned candy that look like tobacco products, according to WHO and partner organisation Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

In Europe, this includes Armenia, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.

READ MORE: Denmark presents plan to ban cigarette sales for next generations

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HEALTH

‘Live Danish, die young’: How unhealthy are young people in Denmark?

'Live Danish, die young' - is the new phrase from a movement to promote better health among young people in Denmark. But what does the latest data reveal about health issues among young Danes?

Published: 27 May 2024 12:30 CEST
Updated: 2 June 2024 05:35 CEST
'Live Danish, die young': How unhealthy are young people in Denmark?

Health and lifestyle issues among young Danish people have long been documented.

For example binge drinking and heavy smoking have been highlighted as a major problem among young Danes for years.

In 2019, a study by the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) found that 40 percent of young Danes aged 15-16 had been drunk in the past 30 days.

This was the highest rate in Europe at the time, where the average was just 13 percent.

On a broader level, multiple studies have also shown that Danes struggle when it comes to physical activity levels.

That’s why a new alliance of over 20 patient organisations, medical guilds, and insurance companies is now calling for better preventative health in Denmark.

A new call to action

The alliance believes Danes smoke and drink too much, do insufficient exercise, and have shorter average life spans than their Scandinavian counterparts.

“The Danes have an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle compared to other Nordic countries. We smoke and drink significantly more, and our diet and exercise could also be better. Live Danish, die young, I usually say,” Jes Søgaard, professor emeritus in health economics at the University of Southern Denmark, told the TV2 broadcaster.

The alliance, led by the insurance company Danica, has prepared ten proposals for targets it wants the government to commit to achieving by 2035, including a 2.5-year increase in longevity, an increase in physical activity, and a halving of young people’s binge drinking.

However, while obesity and physical inactivity are both singled out as significant issues plaguing the Danish population frequently, alcohol consumption has emerged as the most notable lifestyle-related health challenge.

Troubling statistics

Young people aged 16 to 24 in the country have topped survey findings as the age category that consumed the most alcohol for more than a decade, from 2010 to 2021.

However, according to the most recent National Health Profile survey, which gathered responses from thousands of Danes about their health, illness, and well-being, it is now the older population (those over 65) that leads when it comes to alcohol consumption.

The National Health Profile survey shows that more than one in five Danes aged 65 or older drink more than ten alcoholic beverages in a typical week.

In comparison, only 10.4 percent of Danes aged 35 to 44 reported drinking at that level.

Anette Søgaard Nielsen, a professor at the Unit for Clinical Alcohol Research at the University of Southern Denmark, told DR that the older generation grew up in a prosperous society where alcohol was a significant part of the social culture.

As they transition into retirement, many continue or even increase their alcohol consumption due to more free time and disposable income, and some seniors also use alcohol as a form of self-medication or to cope with loneliness and other psychological issues, Søgaard Nielsen explained.

However, while seniors have overtaken the young on the top of the findings, the level of consumption among Danish youth is still troublingly high, as 19 per cent reported drinking more than ten alcoholic beverages in a typical week (which is roughly the same percentage as the one among 55-64-year-olds). 

Unhealthy habits: How does Denmark fare at the EU level?

Several things stand out when comparing Denmark’s population to that of its European Union (EU) peers.

According to the European Commission’s latest Country Health Profile Report for 2023, behavioural risk factors accounted for at least 40 percent of deaths in Denmark in 2019.

While tobacco smoking rates in Denmark have significantly decreased over the past two decades, they remained higher than those in other Nordic countries.

In 2019, over one in three Danes (38 percent) engaged in regular heavy drinking, the highest proportion in the EU.

Adult obesity rates also increased to 16 percent in 2019, aligning with the EU average.

Efforts to address these issues

National efforts to reduce smoking have focused on younger generations, as outlined in Denmark’s 2019 National Action Plan against Children and Young People Smoking.

One of the key objectives of this plan is to create a smoke-free youth generation by 2030. To help achieve this goal, a smoking ban in schools was implemented in 2021.

Given Denmark’s history of being Europe’s heaviest drinkers, the government has launched several initiatives to strengthen alcohol control policies.

In March 2022, the Danish Health Authority tightened national guidelines on low-risk drinking for both young people and adults.

The main recommendation is that children under 18 should not drink alcohol, and adults should limit their intake to no more than 10 drinks per week, with no more than 4 drinks per day.

In November 2023, the Danish Ministry of Health announced new measures to restrict alcohol sales to minors and increase the price of nicotine pouches.

“Children and young people are starting to drink far too early and they are drinking too much,” said Health Minister Sophie Løhde at the time.

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