One-year ban on tobacco and nicotine gutkha and pan masala in Uttarakhand: Food Safety Commissioner's October 13 order bars making, storing, distributing and selling them

A one-year ban has been imposed in Uttarakhand on the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha, pan masala and other such food products containing tobacco and nicotine. According to Royal Bulletin, the Food Safety Commissioner issued the order on October 13 under Section 30(2)(a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the 2011 regulations, and copies have been sent to all District Magistrates and Chief Medical Officers for action. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Wednesday that the decision was taken to save the young generation from addiction and that the government reviews it every year. Tobacco-laced food products were also banned in the state in 2013, 2015 and 2019. According to Dainik Bhaskar, amid confusion among traders in Almora, Virasat Hamar Almad convenor Rajiv Gurrani said the ban is only on pan masala containing tobacco, not on the sale of plain pan masala, and that the earlier ban has been extended by a year. (Source: Royal Bulletin, Asianet News, Dainik Bhaskar)