STATE REVOKES BAN ON PAN MASALA

According to the Global Adult tobacco survey 2010, 27.6 per cent of Maharashtra’s adult population chewed tobacco. PIC: AFP

Activists call notification ‘ shocking’; write to CM, FDA commissioner seeking its cancellation

Four years after the state imposed a ban on sale, purchase and storage of pan masala, thereby becoming the first in the country to do so, it has revoked the landmark decision. A notification issued by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 17 lifted the ban on sale of flavoured supari (without tobacco) in the state.

“Studies conducted by the WHO and others in India have proven beyond doubt that pan masala causes serious health hazards, including mouth and throat cancer. We have been submitting these research materials to the FDA for the last five years. The sudden decision to revoke the ban is frankly shocking,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck department, Tata Memorial Hospital.

Maharashtra was the first state in the country to ban chewable tobacco in July 2012. The following year, it extended the ban to pan masala. The ban, imposed by the FDA Commissioner using the special power vested on his office under the Food Standards and Safety Act, 2006, was effective for a period of one year and had to be renewed annually. While health activists had implored the state and chief ministers in office to make it a permanent ban, no such decision came about.

The decision has not gone down well with health activists and the medical fraternity. Several activists have written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis warning of the perils of legalising pan masala. Dr Kailash Sharma, director (academics) at Tata Memorial Hospital, in his letter urged the CM to stick with the ban in order “to save future generations”.

A group of oncologists, under the banner of Maharashtra Cancer Warriors and deans of dental colleges, have also written to the CM, health minister and FDA commissioner, calling for a permanent ban on the products.

According to the Global Adult tobacco survey 2010, 27.6 per cent of Maharashtra’s adult population chewed tobacco. In absolute numbers, this figure stood at nearly two crore people. Most consumers use smokeless tobacco, along with supari (betel or areca nut). Mouth cancer is the most common cancer prevalent in men in the state.