The Kerala Government has imposed a blanket ban on the manufacturing and sale of gutka/pan masala in the state. Kerala has thus become the second State in the country after Madhya Pradesh to ban gutka products.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the State Government had enforced the ban on gutka/pan masala under the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011.
The increasing incidence of gutka-induced diseases like oral cancer prompted the Government to take such a decision. The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare had, in April this year, informed the state government that States had the jurisdiction to ban gutka/pan masala under the Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011.
The health department initiated steps immediately in this regard following this and the notification banning gutka/pan masala in Kerala was issued by Commissioner of Food Safety, Kerala on May 22.
The ban prohibits the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of products that contain tobacco and nicotine, in whatsoever name it is available in the market. The ban on gutka/pan masala follows a string of proactive initiatives taken by the Kerala Government for tobacco control.
