Is Smoking Cherry E-Cigarettes Riskier Than Eating Cherry Candy?

Electronic cigarettes come in enticing flavors like “cherry crush” and “vivid vanilla,” though researchers are beginning to question whether those ingredients are as safe to smoke as they are to eat.

Many of the flavor chemicals, like vanillin and benzaldehyde, are fine to eat but there’s sparse data on how they might affect the lungs of e-cigarette users, according to research released Wednesday. A paper in the journal Tobacco Control calls vanillin and benzaldehyde “primary irritants” of the respiratory tract -- similar to, for example, a particularly smoggy day in Los Angeles.