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The Ministry of Health says it is probing the issue of flavoured tobacco and products that make cigarettes taste of fruit.
But any move to ban the products would require a change to legislation.
Liquid drops in flavours such as apple, blueberry, vanilla and cherry and used to disguise the taste of cigarettes, sweet-flavoured cigarette papers and fruit-flavoured tobacco are being sold in some dairies, convenience stores, liquor outlets and over the internet.
The Ministry of Health's national director of tobacco control, Ashley Bloomfield, said the products had been available for some time but did not appear to be hugely popular.
Anti-smoking groups said the additives should be banned as they masked the taste of tobacco and were an enticement for children to start smoking.
But Dr Bloomfield said any moves to ban their sale would require a change in the law.
Legislation bans the sale of tobacco to any person younger than 18 years, but as the additives were not tobacco, they could be sold to anyone.
Once the ministry had finished looking into the issue, Dr Bloomfield said it would report back to Associate Minister of Health Damien O'Connor with any recommendations.
- NZPA
