Originally Published: 27 JUL 23 18:37 ET

By Amanda Musa, CNN

(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters Thursday to several distributors of e-cigarettes for selling and distributing unauthorized e-cigarette products that appeal to minors.

“All of the brands cited in these warning letters have been identified as being among the most popular e-cigarettes among U.S. youth,” the FDA said in a news release, such as Elf Bar/EB Design, Esco Bars and Puff Max.

The agency says the companies – ABS Distribution, EC Supply and Easy Wholesale – have distributed products that do not have marketing authorization, in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

“FDA is committed to keeping a finger on the pulse of the rapidly evolving e-cigarette landscape, including through a variety of scientific assets equipped to quickly identify products with high youth appeal,” Dr. Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in the release.

Since January, the agency has issued 15 civil money penalties against manufacturers over the illegal sale of e-cigarettes, the agency says. New tobacco products must receive marketing authorization from the FDA before they can be sold; existing e-cigarette products have been allowed to remain on the market, but the agency has asked manufacturers to submit applications to keep them there. Only 23 tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products or devices have received FDA authorization so far.

The distributors have 15 days to respond to the FDA with steps they plan to take in correcting and preventing violations.

“We will monitor to ensure these violations are corrected, and if they are not, the recipient is at risk of further actions such as civil money penalties, seizures, and injunctions,” Ann Simoneau, director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement within the Center for Tobacco Products, said in the release.

E-cigarettes contain high concentrations of nicotine, a highly addictive chemical that can harm adolescents’ brains in particular.

A recent CDC report highlighted that monthly e-cigarette unit sales surged 46.6% from January 2020 to December 2022: from 15.5 million to 22.7 million units.

Over 2.5 million middle and high school students have reported using e-cigarettes, according to the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey.