Haryana to ban food articles containing nicotine and tobacco

The ban, covering all food products containing tobacco and nicotine, and are sold in the market under names like gutkha, and pan masala, is being imposed in the interest of public health, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Haryana, Rakesh Gupta, said today.

The Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, enacted by the central government, prohibits the sale and manufacture of such products as they are injurious to health, he said.

Speaking after inaugurating a sensitisation workshop on 'Prohibition of food articles containing tobacco and nicotine' in Panchkula, Gupta said, tobacco is the foremost preventable cause of death and disease in the world today.

He said Haryana has already imposed a ban on hookah bars in the state after shutting down more than 60 bars offering hookah, or water pipes, with nicotine.

In rural areas, smoking by hooka and tobacco chewing are common, he said.

Addressing the workshop, G L Singhal, State Drug Controller, appealed to the people not to use such products as they could cause deadly diseases like cancer.