Turkish government banned entry of IQOS like “heated tobacco” devices to the country. Travelers should beware of the risk their device to be taken at the airport.
IQOS (pronounced EYE-kose) is a tobacco device made by cigarette maker Philip Morris International.
Turkey’s Ministry of Commerce has banned bringing heated tobacco devices into the country. Travelers, especially from Ukraine and Cyprus, were bringing the IQOS like devices to Turkey.
IQOS is a penlike electronic device that comes with a sleek battery pack resembling a cigarette case. IQOS heats the tobacco just enough to release a flavorful nicotine-containing tobacco vapor but without burning the tobacco. The product includes an electronically controlled heating blade that warms a tobacco stick and releases a vapor with the taste of tobacco but fewer harmful chemicals than cigarette smoke.
The tobacco in a cigarette burns at temperatures in excess of 600°C (1112°F), generating smoke that contains high levels of harmful chemicals. But IQOS heats tobacco to much lower temperatures, up to 350°C (662°F), without combustion, fire, ash, or smoke. The lower temperature heating releases the true taste of heated tobacco. Because the tobacco is heated and not burned, the levels of harmful chemicals are significantly reduced compared to cigarette smoke.
It differs from e-cigarettes already on the market because it contains tobacco rather than liquid nicotine. But IQOS still delivers an amount of nicotine that’s similar to traditional cigarettes.
The United States permits the sale of IQOS
On the other in the United States, after a two-year wait, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said last week that it would permit the sale of IQOS.
