Background:
Most European countries have prohibited the sale of tobacco products to persons younger than 18 years while the legal age required to purchase tobacco in the US is 21. Latvia will increase its minimum age to purchase tobacco to 20 in 2025; Ireland will raise the minimum age to 21 in 2028, and the UK plans to ban tobacco sales for anyone born after 2009. In Denmark, there have been discussions of a similar ban.

Objectives:
To enforce the age limit of 18 years, the Danish parliament passed legislation allowing the Danish Safety Technology Authority the opportunity from July 1, 2024, to use underage mystery shoppers to control the sales of alcohol, tobacco, and nicotine products in supermarkets and the convenience sector.

Methods:
Young people, aged 15-17 years, were hired to buy alcohol, tobacco, and nicotine products under the supervision of an employee from the Danish Safety Technology Authority, who had authorization to give fines from 25.000 Danish kroner – 3333 € – for selling tobacco to minors.

Result:
During the first month of the new control, 195 out of the 600 checked shops didn’t ask for ID. In contrast, before the use of young mystery shoppers, only 12 tobacco outlets were caught selling tobacco or nicotine products to underage customers in four years. Still, we haven’t seen any change in attitude from the retailers. Most supermarkets continue to sell alcohol and tobacco as they did, and some argue that the new control is exaggerated.

Conclusions:
Preliminary results from the first months of control with mystery shoppers in Denmark show that only about one-third of tobacco outlets ask for ID when servicing young underage customers. Implementation of the age limit of 18 years is necessary for raising the legal age or achieving a smoke-free generation.