Kashrut Statues of the Electronic Cigarettes (Vape)

Rabbi Shay Tahan

Before addressing the question of the kosher status of electronic cigarettes (vapes), it is necessary to first understand what this device is and how it operates. Once the mechanism is clarified, the halachic discussion can be approached more properly.

At the outset, however, it should be noted that, in truth, there would seem to be little reason to engage in an extended discussion about cigarettes at all. The severe dangers associated with smoking and the significant harm it causes to human health are already well known and widely documented. Even if in previous generations certain halachic authorities permitted smoking, today—after the dangers have become clearly established and are no longer subject to serious doubt—it is difficult to justify such leniency.

Electronic cigarettes fall within this same concern, and in some respects may even pose a greater risk than conventional cigarettes. With regular cigarettes, a person typically smokes a single cigarette and then stops until the next one. With electronic cigarettes, however, the device can be used continuously throughout the day without interruption.

With this being said, we can now turn to the substance of the discussion.

An electronic cigarette is a device that produces vapor from a special liquid rather than smoke from burning tobacco. The process is based on heating and evaporation rather than combustion, which is the mechanism of a traditional cigarette.

How the Device Operates

When the user inhales or presses the activation button, the following process occurs:

1. The battery sends an electrical current to the coil.
2. The coil heats up rapidly, typically reaching temperatures of approximately 100–250°C.
3. The liquid absorbed in the wick heats up and turns into vapor.
4. The vapor travels through the device toward the mouthpiece.
5. The user inhales the vapor into the lungs.

What Is Inside the Liquid

The vaping liquid (often called E-liquid) usually consists of several components:

• Propylene Glycol (PG) – a thin liquid that helps carry and enhance flavors.
• Vegetable Glycerin (VG) – a thicker liquid that produces dense vapor clouds.
• Flavoring agents – various flavors such as fruit, mint, tobacco, and others.
• Nicotine – present in many liquids at varying concentrations, though nicotine-free versions also exist.

·        Vaping (Electronic Cigarettes) on Passover

As explained above, an electronic cigarette contains a liquid that, when the user inhales, is heated and evaporated. The vapor then travels through the device and reaches the mouthpiece in the form of vapor that resembles smoke.

This liquid raises several potential kashrut concerns. These issues were discussed in detail in the journal Omek HaPshat (Issue No. 206). What follows is a summary of the relevant facts together with a clarification of the halachic considerations.

The journal writes: “In electronic cigarettes there are dozens, sometimes hundreds, of raw materials that originate from many countries around the world, and only a small number of people truly know the full composition. Among the substances commonly found are nicotine, propylene glycol, glycol derivatives, and polyethylene glycol. These materials themselves do not present a kashrut concern.”

·        Glycerin

Glycerin (VG) is one of the primary components responsible for producing the vapor. In most electronic cigarettes the glycerin used is plant-derived. However, glycerin can also be produced from animal sources, which would raise possible concerns of non-kosher animal derivatives.

In addition, there is a theoretical concern that vegetable glycerin might be produced in the same facility that also manufactures animal-derived glycerin, possibly using the same steam systems or equipment. Nevertheless, this concern appears relatively remote. Flavoring Agents

Electronic cigarettes generally contain approximately 4% flavoring compounds. This percentage is significant and would not normally be subject to nullification (bitul b’shishim). Moreover, an ingredient that is intentionally added to provide flavor is not considered nullified, since its entire purpose is for its taste to be perceived; the concept of nullification applies only when the taste is effectively lost.

Another possible concern is that alcohol may be mixed into the flavoring agents, and that this alcohol could theoretically originate from non-Jewish wine. Yet this too is considered a minority possibility and not a common occurrence.

The publication also cites the opinion of the kashrut expert Rabbi Yosef Zaritsky, who maintains that electronic cigarettes present no kashrut concern at all and may be used lechatchilah on Passover, since they contain only natural substances alongside chemical compounds that are themselves toxic and not edible.

The Halachic Discussion of Inhaling the Vapor

We now turn to the halachic questions involved in inhaling these vapors. Clearly, the entire discussion is relevant only in a case where the liquid indeed contains a potentially prohibited substance, something that depends on the realities of the manufacturing process, as explained above. The primary discussion revolves around two aspects: taste and vapor (zeiah).

The Taste of the Liquid

I have seen several halachic authorities who discuss the laws relating to vaping; however, I have not found anyone who addresses the droplets that are sometimes expelled from electronic cigarettes. This phenomenon is fairly common.

These droplets are essentially the very liquid contained in the device’s reservoir. If the liquid itself originates from a prohibited source, it would appear obvious that swallowing such droplets cannot be permitted.

Users, however, claim that the taste of these droplets is unpleasant, and therefore they immediately expel them once they enter the mouth. Based on this they should be permitted, since a spoiled taste does not render a mixture prohibited. As the Shulchan Aruch rules (Y. D. 103:1): “Any substance whose taste is spoiled does not prohibit a mixture. Even if the taste is not intrinsically spoiled—so that on its own it is flavorful and desirable—but it spoils the mixture, it is permitted.”

Even if the defect in taste is only slight, it would still not prohibit the mixture, as the Shulchan Aruch further explains (ibid., sec. 2): “This defect need not be so severe that one would find the food completely repulsive; even if it spoils the taste somewhat, it does not prohibit the mixture.”

Below, we will address whether the principle of achshevei applies when a person intentionally introduces this taste into his mouth.

The Vapor of the Liquid

We must now examine the vapor that emerges from the vape device at the time of inhalation. In the terminology of the Sages, vapor is referred to as zeiah (steam). The Rosh (Responsa, 20:26) was asked whether it is permitted to place a pan containing milk on a stove beneath a pot of meat. He ruled that the pot becomes prohibited, because the steam rising from the pan has the same halachic status as the milk itself. His ruling was codified in the Shulchan Aruch (Y. D. 92:8).

Accordingly, the vapor produced from the liquid in an electronic cigarette should likewise be prohibited. Although the halachic authorities debate whether the vapor of solid food is considered like the food itself—as discussed in Pitchei Teshuvah (ibid., §6)—with respect to the vapor of liquids, there is broad agreement that it retains the status of the liquid itself.

The distinction between conventional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes is significant. With conventional cigarettes, the user inhales smoke, which is generally regarded as merely deriving benefit from the substance. By contrast, with an electronic cigarette the user inhales vapor produced from heated liquid, and this may have the halachic status of eating, or at the very least tasting, a prohibited substance.

The reason is that the device operates by heating the liquid until it evaporates, after which the user inhales the resulting vapor. Since this vapor is generated directly from the heated liquid and carries its substance, it is considered halachically equivalent to the liquid itself.

Although the liquid in the reservoir may be unpleasant as it exists there, once it emerges in the form of vapor its flavor improves and becomes more palatable. This situation is no different from a spoiled prohibited substance that later regains a pleasant taste, which remains forbidden (ibid. 103:2).

Even if one were to classify this substance as “spoiled,” according to the lenient view mentioned above it would still not be permissible to place such a prohibited substance into one’s mouth, for the very act of eating demonstrates that the person considers it significant, as written by the Rosh.

Moreover, the halachic authorities prohibit even tasting a forbidden substance with the tongue and immediately spitting it out.

If so, one must ask: how could vaping be permitted, when its taste is pleasant, when the vapor is drawn deep into the throat rather than merely touched to the tongue, and when, in many cases, some of it is actually swallowed?

Rulings of the Halachic Authorities

Most halachic authorities have ruled that electronic cigarettes should not be used on Passover. Among those who have prohibited them are R. Moshe Shaul Klein, R. Mordechai Gross, R. Menachem Lubin, and R. Azriel Auerbach, as cited in the pamphlet Mitzot HaPesach.

Similarly, the major kashrut organization Chicago Rabbinical Council has advised that one should purchase only vape products that carry reliable kosher certification, since the liquid may contain problematic ingredients such as glycerin and flavoring compounds.

R. Moshe Sternbuch likewise addressed the issue in a letter (published in Assia 113, p. 102):

“Regarding electronic cigarettes: I agree with his reasoning that since they contain flavoring extracts with pleasant taste which are heated and transformed into vapor that enters the mouth, and the user senses the taste of the vapor, and since vapor (zeiah) is halachically considered like the substance itself, this is comparable to tasting the actual material. Therefore one should use only an electronic cigarette that bears proper kosher certification, ensuring that there is no concern of prohibited ingredients in its components.”

In contrast, several authorities have adopted a more lenient position, among them R. Asher Weiss and R. Rubin.