India "gutka" chewing tobacco habit a tough nut to crack

Ten Indian states have banned a popular form of chewing tobacco in a major policy shift that may save millions of lives and strike a blow at the global tobacco industry, already reeling from new anti-smoking laws around the world. But an estimated 65 million Indians use "gutka" - a heady form of chewing tobacco made of crushed betel nut, nicotine and laced with thousands of chemicals - and furious manufacturers are fighting to have the bans overturned.

Companies such as Delhi-based DS Group are dragging states to courts, complaining that the billion-dollar industry should be regulated as tobacco and not as food and that the bans threaten the livelihoods of millions of farmers and street vendors scattered from Bangalore to New Delhi.
"Nobody understands the bigger picture. What will happen to those poor farmers? No one thinks of them," said a company official on condition of anonymity. No company Reuters consulted would speak on record.
Last week, Punjab became the tenth of 28 states to ban the sale of gutka after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India reclassified it as a foodstuff, prohibiting the use of tobacco and nicotine as "ingredients in any food product".
Gutka making is controlled by family-run Indian firms, with no international tobacco companies in the business. Several other forms of chewing tobacco considered less harmful have not been reclassified as foodstuffs and are not banned.
Some 482 million people live in the 10 states which have enforced the bans. Delhi, Gujarat and Chandigarh, with a combined population of 77 million, are due to follow suit - Delhi this week.
More Indians, including children, chew gutka than smoke, making the trend of outlawing the cheap, colourful packets a more effective health policy in the world's second most populous nation than anti-smoking laws like Australia's ban on cigarette pack logos.
"We're using all kinds of means to persuade the rest (of the states) to enforce the ban. It's a central legislation. States have no option but to abide now," said Amal Pushp, director of the health ministry's National Tobacco Control Programme.
Gutka is popular with the young and old alike, many of whom are blase about the nation's leading cause of oral cancer. Some of the chemicals in some brands of gutka are also used in tile cleaners and battery acids.
Path to death
"If I knew it would land me here, in this condition, I wouldn't have laid my eyes on it," said Abdul Kayum, 62, sitting on a hospital bed, his face bandaged after doctors cut out part of his jaw, gums and teeth to stop the cancer spreading.
"This is a path to death," said Abdul, who sold his land in Bihar to pay for the $9,000 treatment.
Asia's third-largest economy battles almost 80,000 new cases of oral cancer yearly. The treatment of tobacco-related diseases cost more than $5 billion in 2002-2003, according to the most recent data available cited in a health ministry and WHO report.
That compares to about $1.4 billion that the government earns in excise revenue from tobacco.
Tobacco has been chewed in India for centuries, dating back to the Mughal era when nawabs had a concoction known as "paan" - a betel leaf wrapped around a mixture of areca nut, pastes, spices and tobacco - to refresh their palates and aid digestion.
Gutka and paan masala are products of recent decades, available as dry, portable and readymade variants of the traditional paan, to cater for a fast-paced, modern life.
"Eating chocolate is an addiction, eating burgers is an addiction. They are also 'food'. Will the government ban those too?" asked Sanjay Bechan, executive director of the Smokeless Tobacco Federation, adding that the gutka industry was already reporting losses.
"Are we being ruled by Hitler? This is supposed to be a democracy. People make their own choices - gutka or no gutka."
The poor state of Madhya Pradesh was the first to ban the product, and Kerala, Bihar and eight others hopped on the bandwagon.
"We received several complaints from the police that schoolboys are taking these products and that hit me," Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy told Reuters.
"We had to do this for the welfare of the state, no other reason."
Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala went a step further by banning all smokeless forms of tobacco, including "paan masala", usually sold as a mouth freshener.
But it remains to be seen how well the bans are enforced. It will be an uphill battle to keep gutka away from children like 16-year-old Arun Bhati, who has been using it since ninth grade.
"If it gets banned here, I'll still manage to get my fix," said Arun confidently, tearing open a pouch of gutka with his teeth. "You can get it on the sly."

NAKEERAN ARTICLE

2 eateries fined for using poor quality milk

The Ropar Additional Deputy Commissioner has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, each on two eating joints in the district for allegedly using substandard milk.
These eating joints are Kikar Lodge, a resort at Kangar village in Nurpur Bedi Area, and Sartaj Tourist Dhaba at Malakpur village.
Earlier, samples of cow milk were collected from Kikar Lodge on November 10 last year. Under the provisions of the Act, cow milk should have 4 per cent fat and 8.5 per cent solid not fats (SNF). The laboratory analysis revealed that the samples of milk from Kikar lodge had 3.6 per cent fat and 8.3 per cent SNF.
Similarly the samples of mixed milk collected from Sartaj Tourist Dhaba had 1.5 per cent fat and 7.5 per cent SNF. Interestingly, the samples of milk from the canteen of the local mini secretariat had also failed the quality test last month. The case, however, is under process.

Shawarma case: bail plea to be heard tomorrow

The Kerala High Court, on Tuesday, posted for Thursday the bail petition filed by Abdul Khader, proprietor of Salwa Cafe in Thiruvananthapuram, and three others who were arrested in connection with the death of a youth who reportedly consumed shawarma from the shop.

Death

The prosecution case was that one Sachin Roy died after eating shawarma bought from the shop on July 10.

The accused had been charged with the offence for administering poison with the intention to cause hurt under Section 328 of the Indian Penal Code and under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The prosecution said the investigation was on, and the chemical analysis report from the Forensic Science Laboratory, Bangalore, and the report of the Food Safety Commissioner were awaited.

Bail

The court had earlier granted bail to the fifth accused, Abdul Salam, who had supplied the chicken used for making the shawarma.

Gutka valued at over 6cr seized

Mumbai: Ever since the state government promulgated the stringent notification on July 20, the food and drug administration sleuths have so far seized Gutkha and Paan masala worth Rs 6.3 crore from 469 premises across the state.
The FDA's action assumes significant importance in view of the fact that more than a dozen leading Gutkha and Paan masala manufacturers have filed writ petitions before the Bombay high court against the decision of the government. It's a fact that several writ petitions have been filed before the High Court. Since the court has not stayed the notification, we are seizing the banned production. However, court has asked us not to destroy the seized product, as such, the seized quantity of Gutkha and Paan masala has been kept in our divisional offices or local go-downs,'' a senior FDA official told ToI on Wednesday.
After a prolonged delay and marathon debate in the state cabinet, the state government on July 11 decided to invoke the provisions of the food safety and standards act, 2006 to imposed a complete ban on sale, stocking and consumption of Gutkha and Paan masala across the state. Under the act, the food and drug administration commissioner is empowered to issue a notification for the purpose. Accordingly, FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagde on July 20 issued a notification. Even as a notification was issues, there were apprehensions over effective implementation of the ban, however, the results of the decision were visible, after Zagde involved all the district collectors, superintendents of police, municipal commissioners and law enforcing agencies at all levels. Our contention is that consumption of Gutkha or Paan masala is the main source of oral cancer. Under such circumstances it was felt that even if we lost a revenue of Rs 100 crore by way of tax on Gutkha and Paan masala, we were saving a huge amount on treatment of cancer,'' he said.
On the contention of the Gutkha manufacturers, the FDA officials said, they have challenged the powers of the state government to issue such a notification and have contested the ill-effects of consumption of Gutkha and Paan masala.
Significantly, the official said though initially most of the leading politicians, including a section of cabinet members, were in favour of a complete ban, now they were dithering on the decision. Our information is that efforts are on in certain quarters to dilute the July 20 notification for the benefit of the Gutkha manufacturers. But we will not succumb to pressure and we are sure, our notification will stand scrutiny of law,'' the FDA official said.
Region..................premises raided............cost of seized Gutkha
Mumbai..................30...........................Rs 92.39 lakh
Thane.....................17............................Rs 35.43 lakh
Pune........................54...........................Rs 50.85 lakh
Nashik.....................23............................Rs 49.58 lakh
Aurangabad...............72............................Rs 30.7 lakh
Amravati...................29............................Rs 19.69 lakh
Nagpur......................28............................Rs 33.04 lakh
Total........................469............................Rs6.3 crore