SC raps gutkha makers for bending food safety law

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 24

The Supreme Court has again come down heavily on the chewing tobacco industry for flouting the food safety laws of the country which impose a blanket ban on the sale of gutkha, khaini, zarda and other such food products containing tobacco and nicotine.

In an important judgment, the court while hearing an appeal filed by the manufacturers of pan masala, gutkha and chewing tobacco (zarda) against state government notifications issued under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India Regulations, again directed them to strictly comply with the law.

The regulation in question — Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) that was issued on August 1, 2011 by the apex food regulator, FSSAI, for the first time banned the sale of gutkha and other forms of smokeless tobacco on grounds that food cannot contain substances harmful to human health.

The SC’s orders came on a plea from amicus curiae Gopal Subramaniam who argued that the manufacturers of chewing tobacco are circumventing the court’s direction to implement the gutkha ban by selling the same product in twin pouches, The amicus said he was speaking for millions of users of chewing tobacco who were not present before the court but were suffering from numerous diseases due to products manufactured by the petitioners.

Subramanian brought to the notice of the court the following content in the government affidavit on the subject: “To circumvent the ban on the sale of gutkha, the manufacturers are selling pan masala (without tobacco) in one packet and flavoured chewing tobacco in another sachet often conjoined and sold together by the same vendor to defeat the purpose of the FSSAI rule. So consumers can buy the pan masala and flavoured chewing tobacco and mix them for consumption. Hence, instead of the earlier ready to consume tobacco mixtures, chewing tobacco companies are now selling gutkha in twin packs to be mixed as one.”

The apex court taking note of the submissions directed all state food safety officers concerned to ensure strict enforcement of the gutkha ban and file a compliance report by November 9.

The Health Ministry had issued orders banning gutkha sale on the basis of a report of the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare which found there were over 3,095 chemical components in smokeless tobacco products including 28 proven carcinogens.

The report further indicates a strong association between smokeless tobacco usage and incidence of oral, esophageal, stomach, pancreatic, throat and renal cancers. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey India recently showed 35 per cent of all Indiana adults used tobacco in some form. Of these, 21 per cent used smokeless tobacco, 9 per cent smoked and 5 per cent used both chewing and smoking tobacco.