Tamil Nadu bans manufacture, sale of gutkha and pan masala

Tamil Nadu government has issued an order banning manufacture and sale of gutkha, pan masala and all other products containing nicotine and tobacco.
Relevant regulations of the Food and Safety Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, made by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (Central Act of 34) provided that tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food products as they were injurious to health, a recent government order (GO) said.
"And whereas, gutkha and pan masala are food products in which tobacco and nicotine are widely used as ingredients now-a-days," the GO was issued, Commissioner of Food Safety, Kumar Jayant, said.
"Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of sub-section (2) of Section 30 of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Commissioner of Food Safety of the state of Tamil Nadu, in the interest of public health, hereby prohibits the manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of gutkha and pan masala and any other food products containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients," it said.
The ban was against such products in whatsoever name they were available in the market across Tamil Nadu for a period of one year from the date of issue of this order, the GO dated May 23, 2013 said.
Making a suo motu statement in the assembly on May 8, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had referred to Supreme Court's remarks in a case pending before it seeking to know the action taken by state governments in controlling usage of tobacco, and had announced the government's decision of banning those products in the state.