Implement ban on gutka, pan masala: FSSAI -Governance Now

Implement ban on gutka, pan masala: FSSAI

Tobacco use is the foremost preventable cause of death and disease globally as well as in India,says activist

Geetanjali Minhas | October 13, 2017 | Mumbai

#supreme court #Pankaj Chaturvedi #nicotine #pan masala #gutka #ban #Tobacco #health ministry

Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sought implementation of the ban on manufacture, sale and distribution of gutka and pan masala with tobacco and nicotine.

The Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) regulations prohibit the use of tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in any food product.

The apex court had directed the authorities concerned in the state/UT's for total compliance of the ban imposed by FSSAI regulations on the manufacturing and sale of gutka and pan masala with tobacco and/or nicotine.

The FSSAI order on October 9 also directs the secretaries, health department of all states and UT’s to file their affidavits within four weeks on the issue of total compliance on the ban imposed on manufacturing and sale of gutka and pan masala with tobacco and or nicotine.

The health ministry’s special leave petition says, “to circumvent the ban on the sale of gutka, the manufacturers are selling pan masala (without tobacco) with flavoured chewing tobacco in separate sachets. Often these sachets are sold together by the same vendors from the same premises so that consumers can buy the pan masala and flavoured chewing tobacco and mix them and consume the same. Hence instead of the earlier "ready to consume mixes", chewing tobacco companies are selling gutka in twin packs to be mixed as one.”

The states of Bihar, Karnataka, Mizoram, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have already complied with the SC order.

‘“The FSSAI recent order is welcome move as it was seen in the past that only state governments/UT's were issuing necessary orders for banning manufacturing and sale of gutkha and pan masala with tobacco and/or nicotine,” says Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital and an anti-tobacco activist.

“Tobacco use is the foremost preventable cause of death and disease globally as well as in India. The consequent burden of mortality and morbidity due to consumption of smokeless tobacco is very high in India. Tobacco causes almost 12 lakh deaths in a year in India. Available evidence suggests that India shares the maximum burden of oral cancer in the World,” he added.

The result of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2016- 2017 reveals 29.6% men,12.8% women and 21.4% adults use smokeless tobacco. Due to initiative taken by the government like ban on certain forms of smokeless tobacco products like gutka and pan masala the number of tobacco users has reduced by about 81 lakh.

Comments

Other News

Making sense of the ‘crisis of political representation’

Imprints of the Populist Time By Ranabir Samaddar Orient BlackSwan, 352 pages, Rs. 1105 The crisis of liberal democracy in the neoliberal world—marked by massive l

Budget: Highlights

Union minister of finance and corporate affairs Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in Parliament on Wednesday. The highlights of the Budget are as follows: PART A Per capita income has more than doubled to Rs 1.97 lakh in around

Budget presents vision for Amrit Kaal: A blueprint for empowered, inclusive economy

Union Budget 2023-24, presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament on Wednesday, outlined the vision of Amrit Kaal which shall reflect an empowered and inclusive economy. “We envision a prosperous and inclusive India, in which the fruits of development reach all regions an

Soumya Swaminathan to head M S Swaminathan Research Foundation

Former World Health Organisation (WHO) chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan takes charge as chairperson of M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) from February 1. Founded by her father, the legendary agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, MSSRF was set up to accelerate the use of m

m-Governance: Key to Digital India

The digital revolution is being led by India. Digital governance is a key component of the government's ambition to transform India into a society where everyone has access to the internet. It includes both M-governance and E-governance, which are major methods for the delivery of services via mobile devic

A sacred offering of the beauty of ‘Saundarya Lahari’ – in English

Saundarya Lahari: Wave of Beauty Translated from the Sanskrit by Mani Rao HarperCollins, 218 pages, Rs 399 ‘Saundarya Lahari’, usually ascribed to Adi Shankaracharya, has a unique status among the religious-spiritual works of Hinduism.