The Maharashtra's Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has decided to renew the ban on gutkha and related products for the third year in a row. FDA has seized illegal tobacco products worth Rs 36.15 crore in the last two years from the state.
Gutkha was first banned in the state in 2011 under section 30 (2)(a) of the Food Standards and Safety Act 2006. In the following year, the state-run regulatory authority also banned flavored and scented betel nut (supari) and pan masala.
"The ban on these products will continue. The food safety commissioner can ban products that have a detrimental effect on health of the people for one year and review the situation for renewal of ban. We have studied the latest research on carcinogenicity and other ill effects of tobacco products and renewed the ban," said Mahesh Zagade, state FDA commissioner.
The ban has been stringently implemented, better than any other state in fact, said officials. "We have seized stocks of gutkha, pan masala, flavored or scented supari, crude preparations of tobacco and lime known as kharra worth Rs 36.15 crore in the last two years from Maharashtra," said Zagade.
Of the seized stock, gutkha and pan masala worth Rs 24.53 crore have been destroyed. Around 200 staffers of FDA have inspected 67,914 spots in two years. Around 1,212 FIRs have been filed against errant vendors or distributors, and 1,459 prosecutions have been launched.
"Prosecutions can also be launched without registering an FIR under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006," said Zagade.
The ban notification states that tobacco products and betel nut cause cardiac arrest, oral cancer, stomach cancer, affects fertility and cause respiratory ailments among other diseases.
"Over five lakh people die every year in India due to tobacco-related diseases," said Zagade.
FDA is now trying to check banned tobacco products from being smuggled in from neighbouring states. "Gutkha is brought on trains from Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh; by bus from Karnataka and by truck from Gujarat. Smugglers adopt ingenious methods like hiding gutkha packets in clothes or frozen meat," said Zagade.
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