Tauranga health officials are 'disappointed” that four Western Bay of Plenty dairies have been handed down warnings or infringement notices after being caught illegally selling tobacco to minors.

In the last five months Toi Te Ora – Public Health Service has carried out one controlled purchase operation where 36 retailers selling tobacco products were visited.

Dairies in Tauranga, Te Puke and Papamoa were caught out in the sting.

Bay of Plenty Medical Officer of Health, Dr Neil de Wet, says of the sites visited, four were in breach of the regulations – all of them dairies.

Of the four, one was in Te Puke, two in Papamoa, and one in Tauranga.

Controlled purchase operations are designed to monitor and enforce provisions relating to the sale of liquor or tobacco to minors in the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.

They involve supervised volunteers, aged under 18 years, attempting to buy either from licensed premises.

If a volunteer's purchase proves successful, the premise's operator, manager or licensee is liable to prosecution or other sanction via the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority or the District Court.

Neil says three of the four premises received warnings while one was referred to the Ministry of Health for infringement.

Infringement notices can range from $500 to $1000.

He says the breaches are nothing less than 'disappointing”.

None of the retailers caught out would be facing fines if they had been following best practice, such as asking for ID from anyone who looked to be under 25.

According to Toi Te Ora – Public Health Service tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand. It kills more than 4500 Kiwis every year, including about 350 from second-hand smoke.