British American Tobacco PLC (LSE:BATS)'s Italian division and e-commerce company Amazon.com are being investigated by Italy's competition authority for alleged misleading advertising of a heated tobacco product.
The watchdog said publicity for BAT's Glo Hyper X2 device omitted information or provided "misleading information about the health risks of the use of the product, and the prohibition on its use by minors".
Heated tobacco products use a high heat to decompose tobacco, via a process called pyrolysis, which does not set it on fire or burn it, therefore avoiding creating smoke.
The Glo Hyper X2 was launched last July, pitched as a "reduced-risk product" for adult smokers who want to give up cigarettes.
The Italian watchdog noted that tobacco contains nicotine, "a substance which has the capacity to cause addiction and which, in high concentrations, is harmful to health".
But it said promotional materials for the Glo Hyper X2 do not properly explain "that its use involves the emission of nicotine – in some messages, it is even explicitly stated that consumption is 'without nicotine'."
Shares in BAT fell 0.5% to 2,832p.