Since the time, the Supreme Court has affirmed that gutka and paan masala can be termed as a food product, as many as 24 states in India have banned these products in their states, especially as Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011prohibits the use of tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in food products.
Gutka uses areca nuts (betel nut) tobacco, catechu, paraffin, slaked lime and scented flavouring as ingredients. Gutka is slowly sucked and chewed by placing a small amount between the gum and cheek. Keeping the gutka for long, in one spot, in the mouth can lead to oral cancer. According to a recent survey and on the basis of other evidence, India has the maximum cases of oral cancer in the world caused by smokeless forms of tobacco. The use of smokeless tobacco, in the form of processed, flavoured, scented, chewable tobacco like gutkha, zarda, supari and khaini is very high in India, leading to almost 90% of oral cancers in India.
Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has written letters to all Chief Ministers in the country expressing his concerns about the increasing use of smokeless tobacco products and their link to oral cancer. He has asked chief Ministers to take necessary actions in order to ban tobacco products in all forms. Just like gutka has been banned in many states in India, the Health Minister would also like the states to ban other products that use tobacco as an ingredient. He has urged Chief Ministers to take necessary steps to issue orders and notifications to ban all smokeless forms of tobacco from all the states in India keeping in mind the public health.
Madhya Pradesh was the first state to ban gutka. A ban means that gutka, which contains tobacco and nicotine as ingredients, will not be manufactured, stored, sold, or distributed in the state, it has been banned in, no matter by which name gutka is made and used. In Assam, where the ban on gutka has already been in place, the Food Safety officers have not hesitated to register cases against manufacturers, traders of gutka and other flavoured tobaccos.
Women and children are particularly vulnerable as the products are packaged attractively and are scented and flavoured. Poorer members of the population become addicted to them easily as these products are quite cheap. It is to protect these vulnerable sections of the society that the Health Minister has urged Chief Ministers to take all steps to stop this health menace.
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