Last Friday, the Food and Drug Administration seized more than a thousand documents from e-cigarette maker Juul Labs. This surprise inspection was aimed at the sales and marketing practices of the company which are already under investigation since its products have sharply gained popularity among teens. The FDA is right to go after companies marketing tobacco products to kids but they shouldn’t drag fruity flavors into the fight.

Currently, the best argument that the government and critics seem to have against Juul is that it offers a wide range of flavored tobacco products, including some that have names that sound like candy or lip gloss flavors. Indeed, this is an oft repeated point by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who equates the choice in names with an attempt to attract younger users.

Flavorings alone, of course, are not indicative of a marketing strategy that specifically targets underage consumers nor should they be banned as some jurisdictions have tried to do.

If they were, then the same argument could be made against things like Iced Cake Smirnoff or Pecan Pie Whiskey. Those flavors might sound pretty gross and a little childish, but there are plenty of adult consumers who want them. That’s also the case with Juul products featuring mango and mint flavors.

The FDA seems to know that these names alone are going to be a losing argument which is why they requested, and now raided, Juul’s research and marketing data. The company has been cooperating and had already handed over more than 50,000 pages of documents prior to the raid.

The FDA is right to try to keep tobacco products out of the hands of underage users and to enforce regulation that prevents targeting young people. Even smokeless tobacco products contain addictive nicotine.

That approach, combined with better education for young people on the dangers of nicotine, is far better than preventing adult users from accessing flavored products that they want, which may have helped them quit smoking traditional cigarettes.

What is far less helpful is the threat that the federal government will consider a ban on flavored products. Such a ban will likely do little to cut down on the appeal of vaping as “cool” for teens, and it will prevent adult users from accessing products that they want and might help them quit the far more dangerous traditional cigarettes.