Punjab has completely banned the flavoured chewing tobacco, gutka and paan masala containing tobacco or nicotine in the State. The State Government has issued a notification to this effect on October 9, 2018, imposing the ban for one year.
Announcing this, the State Food and Drug Administration commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu said that in pursuance of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, the manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of gutka, paan masala (containing tobacco or nicotine), processed, flavoured or scented chewing tobacco and any other food products containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredient by whatsoever name these are called as final products, whether packaged or unpackaged or sold as one product or through packaged as separate products available in the market, is prohibited for a period of one year in the state of Punjab, from the date of issue of notification.
Pannu said that it has been observed that to circumvent the ban on the sale of gutka, the manufacturers are selling paan masala (without tobacco) with flavourved chewing tobacco in separate sachets, but often they are conjoint and sold together by the same vendors in the same premises.
This is done intentionally so that consumers can buy the paan masala and flavoured chewing tobacco and mix both the articles as a concoction to replace gutka.
Hence, instead of the earlier “ready to consume admixture”, paan masala and flavoured or scented chewing tobacco are being used to serve the same purpose. In view of this processed, flavoured or scented chewing tobacco, gutka and paan masala containing tobacco and have been banned in the State.