The Food Safety Department destroyed gutka and other products containing tobacco and nicotine seized from several shops in the city earlier this week.
During the raids supervised by the Designated Officer for Food Safety and Drug Administration Kalaivani, the banned products worth Rs. 3.5 lakh that were seized from shops were burnt.
The shop owners were warned that they would face action under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006, if they were caught selling the banned products henceforth.
District Collector S. Prabakar said in a press release that the public could pass on information about surreptitious sale of the banned products to the office of Food Safety Department over phone: 0424-2223545.
The banned products include gutka, pan masala, zarda and tobacco-based flavoured mouth fresheners. The Central Government issued the ban order last December following a Supreme Court order dated September 23, 2016, banning chewing tobacco products.
According to the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on sales) Regulations, 2011, issued by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food products.
The order prohibiting manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine, or any other product marketed separately containing tobacco or nicotine, was issued by the Central Government taking cognisance of the Global Audit Tobacco Survey — India (GATS) 2010, that mortality and morbidity due to consumption of smokeless tobacco was very high in India.
The survey stated that India shares the maximum burden of oral cancer in the world.
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