Even as the gutkha manufacturers have launched a media
blitzkrieg claiming that chewing tobacco is safe, the Union Health
Ministry is still scratching its head to determine which of its agencies
is empowered to impose penalties against the defaulters for violation
of court directions as well as food safety laws.
“We are contemplating legal action against the smokeless tobacco firms for spreading false and misleading information through ads about food safety aspects of the gutkha in violation of the Food and Safety Standards Act 2006. The Act prohibits sale and advertisements of tobacco products.
“But we are yet to decide which department is empowered to take action against such violation,” said Director of National Tobacco Control Programme in the Ministry, Amal Pushp. He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by anti-tobacco groups to counter misinformation by the gutkha firms through ads by questioning the legality of gutkha ban by 14 States.
Initiating contempt of court proceedings against the gutkha lobby including Smokeless Tobacco Association, All India Kattha Factories Association and the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative is another option that the Ministry is planning. It says that the “misleading” advertisements violate the High Courts’ and Supreme Court directions which have both ruled that gutkha is a food product as it is consumed.
“As per the amended FSSA 2006, misleading information against the food products such as gutkha invites penalty between `5 lakh and `10 lakh. We have to see if the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) can take action against the misleading ads information,” Pushp said.
The ban on the smokeless tobacco products came on the directions of the Supreme Court which had taken cognizance of a Health Ministry’s report on the ill-effects of chewing tobacco which contains 3095 hazardous chemicals including 28 cancerous one causing oral cancer.
So far, at least 14 States/UTs have banned the manufacture, sale, distribution and storage of gutkha and other such products containing tobacco or nicotine under the FSS Act.
Maharashtra has taken a step further by not only banning gutkha and related products but also arecanut, an ingredient in gutkha and paan masala. “All States must ban them as they are being used at dangerously epidemic levels by many including children and women in the country,” said Mahesh Jagde, Food Commissioner, Maharashtra.
“We are contemplating legal action against the smokeless tobacco firms for spreading false and misleading information through ads about food safety aspects of the gutkha in violation of the Food and Safety Standards Act 2006. The Act prohibits sale and advertisements of tobacco products.
“But we are yet to decide which department is empowered to take action against such violation,” said Director of National Tobacco Control Programme in the Ministry, Amal Pushp. He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by anti-tobacco groups to counter misinformation by the gutkha firms through ads by questioning the legality of gutkha ban by 14 States.
Initiating contempt of court proceedings against the gutkha lobby including Smokeless Tobacco Association, All India Kattha Factories Association and the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative is another option that the Ministry is planning. It says that the “misleading” advertisements violate the High Courts’ and Supreme Court directions which have both ruled that gutkha is a food product as it is consumed.
“As per the amended FSSA 2006, misleading information against the food products such as gutkha invites penalty between `5 lakh and `10 lakh. We have to see if the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) can take action against the misleading ads information,” Pushp said.
The ban on the smokeless tobacco products came on the directions of the Supreme Court which had taken cognizance of a Health Ministry’s report on the ill-effects of chewing tobacco which contains 3095 hazardous chemicals including 28 cancerous one causing oral cancer.
So far, at least 14 States/UTs have banned the manufacture, sale, distribution and storage of gutkha and other such products containing tobacco or nicotine under the FSS Act.
Maharashtra has taken a step further by not only banning gutkha and related products but also arecanut, an ingredient in gutkha and paan masala. “All States must ban them as they are being used at dangerously epidemic levels by many including children and women in the country,” said Mahesh Jagde, Food Commissioner, Maharashtra.
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