DINAKARAN NEWS

DINAMALAR NEWS

Government wants ban on smokeless tobacco

The monograph is India’s first comprehensive report on the impact of smokeless tobacco consumption in the country and a set of recommendations considering the situation in India.

There may soon be a complete ban on all forms of smokeless tobacco in India such as pan masala and flavoured chewing tobacco following the already existing ban on gutkha.

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on Friday released a monograph on ‘Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health in India’ at ongoing 7th session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that revealed a clear policy recommendation to enforce a countrywide ban on production, supply and distribution of all packaged smokeless tobacco products.

The monograph is India’s first comprehensive report on the impact of smokeless tobacco consumption in the country and a set of recommendations considering the situation in India. “India is the first country to prohibit the sale, storage and manufacturing of gutkha across all states. However, stronger measures are required for effective implementation of the law. We are also considering the key recommendations of this report,” Amal Pusp, Director, tobacco control, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare said. Available evidence suggests that India shares the maximum burden of oral cancer in the world which is directly associated with the smokeless tobacco products. Doctors claim that almost 90 per cent of these oral cancers are linked to tobacco use.

“The sale of pan masala and areca nut, which are strongly associated with smokeless tobacco use, should be banned because of their carcinogenicity and the increasing prevalence of oral pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions attributable to these substances, especially among youth,” the Health Ministry report said.

“Pan masala and flavoured chewing tobacco are currently being sold separately to circumvent law and this should be strictly prohibited. Strict orders from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and court should restrict sale in this form. Policies should be implemented to prevent the sale of tobacco products in places that also sell basic food items or medicines,” it said.

Besides gutkha, 11 states, including Delhi, have over a period of time banned flavoured chewing tobacco, and three states — Maharashtra, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh — have banned flavoured areca nut too. For the smokeless tobacco products that are currently not banned, the subsequent recommendations apply, Health Ministry officials said.

The Ministry has also observed a trend of consumption of smokeless tobacco products among Indian women. Currently, 70 million women age 15 and older use smokeless tobacco products. The relative risk of oral cancer among women using smokeless tobacco products is eight times higher than that for men, and the relative risk of cardiovascular disease among women using such products is 2–4 times higher than in men.

Food safety, viability issues taken up at Gadvasu symposium

LUDHIANA: Various technical sessions were conducted on Friday during the ongoing international symposium and 7th conference of the Indian Meat Science Association at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University(GADVASU).

Dr S T Joo from the Republic of Korea underlined food safety issues related with different cooking techniques. He said cooking time and temperature should be selected with eating quality parameters and killing of pathogens. Experts unanimously agreed on the need to stop rampant slaughter of animals in lanes and bylanes of the city immediately.

They said animal welfare should be considered and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations should be followed in letter and spirit while transporting animals.

Besides effective utilization of slaughter house byproducts, participants also underlined the need to reduce environmental pollution. Dr R K Dhaliwal, director, student welfare, PAU advocated extension services for awareness, training and development of entrepreneurship in animal husbandry. Dhaliwal also suggested collaborative extension programmes between Punjab Agricultural University and GADVASU.

Professor Lee, a scientist from the University of Konkuk, Republic of Korea presented various methods of low-cost preservation techniques to reduce losses occurring during transportation and storage of livestock produce.

Dr Manish Kumar Chatli, organising secretary said valuable products can be developed from animal husbandry waste, such as biodegradable films, Bone Morphogenic Proteins (BMP) and collagen sheets, among others. He said BMP increases the rate of healing of fractures by 40% to 50%. Collagen sheets, he said, are being used in plastic surgery.

According to him, this would help young researchers interact with subject experts and set new ideas about priority research areas. National Research Centre (Meat) signed an MoU with GADVASU, which will open up new avenues for research and entrepreneurs exchange, sharing of knowledge and facilities. National Research Centre (Meat) welcomed research students from different universities to undertake research in the ongoing projects.

As you show, so shall you reap

How much can a celeb be held responsible for misleading ads?

Pierce Brosnan endorsing Pan Bahar

Pierce Brosnan created ripples last month when he appeared as an ambassador for an Indian paan masala brand. Further, he left everyone flummoxed when he admitted to not knowing what he was being the face of. The former Bond went ahead to express shock at how the brand had allegedly misled him. While the two are yet to clear the tangle, the government on its part is ensuring that consumers are not at the receiving end of an ambassador’s ignorance. On Wednesday, a Group of Ministers (GoM) made a proposal stating that celebrities could face a fine of Rs 10 lakhs, and a year’s ban on advertising any such products. For a subsequent “offence”, the celebrity could be fined a whopping Rs 50 lakh, and a three-year ban for supporting “unrealistic” claims. The proposal is yet to be cleared by the Union cabinet.

The advertising industry, however, isn’t gung-ho about the idea. Arun Iyer, chief creative officer at Lowe Lintas, asserts that it isn’t justified to discriminate against public figures if the brand isn’t fulfilling its promise. He says, “I find the proposal vague in its current form. How do you define ‘misleading’? How is the celebrity supposed to know the technicalities of the brand he/she is endorsing and do his/ her own research on the product? For instance, what would Madhuri Dixit know about the packet of noodles containing lead more than the permissible limits?”

Madhuri Dixit and Amitabh Bachchan were in the line of fire too last year, when the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had banned the popular two-minute Maggi noodles. In April this year, M.S. Dhoni was forced to discontinue his services as a brand ambassador for realty firm after residents of the housing project asked him to dissociate himself from the brand. Filmmaker and ad man Vinil Matthew believes it isn’t fair to make the brand and the ambassador pay the same price. “If the claims made by the brand doesn’t stand true, then the brand shouldn’t be allowed to advertise in the first place. If paan masala is being advertised, you can’t blame the actor for spreading cancer. Celebrities shouldn’t be made the scapegoat, simply because they are easy targets,” he says referring to Brosnan’s campaign.

Speaking of celebrities, the last few days have had pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi splashed across ads of e-wallets. While it isn’t ‘endorsing’ in the traditional sense, it does associate itself with the PM, effectively the most powerful man in the country. “Tomorrow if I have a problem with either of these services, can I sue the Prime Minister given that he is the brand ambassador?” questions M.S. Gopal, creative director at Tailor.

There is a silver lining, however. As Amer Jaleel, chairman and chief creative officer at Mullen Lintas points out, “If the bill comes into force, agencies will be under pressure to ensure that the approvals are clean. The bigger and larger issue here is to target the companies/brands making false claims.”

But if the proposal must come into effect, it may need a little sharpening on the edges, suggests Sujoy Roy, senior creative director at Ogilvy and Mather. “Celebrities form an integral part of the brand and if such a bill comes into play, they might become wary of advertising certain brands. Celebrities may even increase their fees due to the risks involved. The bill needs to be sharpened to state terms on which kind of products can be endorsed. After all, what may be unrealistic for me, may not be unrealistic for the brand.”