Why Meta won't let you sell alcohol or vapes on WhatsApp
WhatsApp's business policy doesn't allow a business to sell alcohol, tobacco, vapes or prescription medicines through WhatsApp.[1][2] It applies to every business on WhatsApp, in the Business app or through the API. Break it repeatedly and Meta restricts your number, then can switch it off for good.[3] Sell those items on your own website instead, and keep WhatsApp for the food.
What the policy covers
WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy lists "alcohol and tobacco", drugs "whether prescription, recreational, or otherwise" and "medical and healthcare products" among the things a business may not use WhatsApp to buy, sell or promote.[1] Meta's developer documentation spells out what that means in practice:[2]
| Category | What Meta's documentation says | Examples it lists |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | "Businesses may not transact in the sale of alcohol." | Alcoholic drinks; kits for making alcohol |
| Tobacco | "Businesses may not transact in the sale of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia." | Cigarettes, cigars, rolling papers, e-cigarettes |
| Drugs | "Businesses may not transact in the sale of illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs." | Prescription drugs |
| Healthcare | "Businesses may not transact in certain healthcare products, including medical devices." | Medical devices; nicotine stop-smoking products |
Vapes count as tobacco here: e-cigarettes are on Meta's tobacco list.[2]
There is a narrow exception, and it doesn't cover selling
In some countries the policy lets licensed businesses in regulated areas such as alcohol send certain messages. Even then it says: "You are prohibited from providing any commerce experiences to buy or sell goods or services that are Regulated Verticals."[1] Taking an order and a payment for a bottle of wine in the chat is exactly that.
What happens if you ignore it
Meta's enforcement gets stricter each time:[3]
- A 1 or 3 day block on sending template messages.
- A 5, 7 or 30 day block on sending any messages at all, and on adding phone numbers.
- An account lock: no messages until an appeal succeeds.
- Eventually, the account can be permanently disabled from the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Some severe violations skip the steps and are switched off straight away.[3] An appeal is made in Meta's Business Support Home and usually takes 24 to 48 hours to review.[3]
For a takeaway that is a disaster: the number that takes your food orders is the number that gets blocked. One bottle of wine in the chat can stop every order of chips.
Where to sell these items instead
Your own ordering website. A website isn't a WhatsApp chat, so WhatsApp's policy doesn't apply to it. The licence you need to sell alcohol, and the age checks the law expects, still do.
A shop that sells both can keep everything on one menu. The food sells on WhatsApp and the website; the wine, the cigarettes and the vapes sell only on the website.
How EasyOzy handles it for you
You mark an item as alcohol, tobacco, a vape, a medicine or another 18+ product on your menu, and EasyOzy enforces the rule in code, not by asking the assistant nicely:
- The item can't be added to a basket in a WhatsApp or Instagram chat.
- When a customer asks for it, the assistant sends them a link to your own ordering website, where they can buy it.
- A WhatsApp order containing one of those items is refused when it is placed, as a final check.
So a customer can still buy a bottle with their curry from you, and your WhatsApp number stays safe.
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy, section 4 "Prohibited Organizations and Restrictions on Use", section 5 "Further Guidance on Regulated Verticals" and section 7 "Enforcement and Updates" (last updated 23 September 2026). Checked 24 October 2026.
- Meta for Developers, WhatsApp Business Platform policy violations: Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs, Healthcare. Checked 24 October 2026.
- Meta for Developers, WhatsApp Business Platform policy enforcement. Checked 24 October 2026.
Usman Javed builds EasyOzy, the ordering assistant takeaways use on WhatsApp, Instagram and their own websites.