Mouth fresheners and pan masalas have finally come under the scanner of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) for allegedly containing cancer-causing and other hazardous properties such as tobacco.
A senior official in the Union Health Ministry said that the top food authority has directed its scientific panel to look into the ingredients of mouth fresheners and pan masalas as there have been allegations that tobacco was being promoted through these products. Various anti-tobacco voluntary groups urged the food regulator to check promotion and sales of tobacco products in the country as part of the public health policy.
"It is not that all mouth fresheners or pan masalas can be called hazardous but, we will pick samples from the market to test their ingredients if they contain health hazardous properties," said an FSSAI official. However, the way the scientific panels of the FSSAI function, it will be a long wait for the outcome of the much-awaited test. Mouth fresheners, guthkas and pan masalas are in much demand particularly by the youth who are getting hooked to these stimulants.
However, many of these products are being sold by tobacco companies using direct or surrogate advertisements through their identical brands extensions, the NGOs have alleged. "This creates confusion among the consumers particularly youth to experiment with such products not knowing that they contain tobacco," said a representative from NGO Hriday.
Guthka is said to have a dry concoction of crushed arecanut (supari), 7-8 per cent tobacco, catechu (a dry, brown extract from the acacia tree), paraffin, slaked lime, and sweet or savoury flavours. However, it is also said to contain over 3,095 chemicals, including 28 carcinogenic substances. Pan masala is a mixture of areca or betel nut, sugar, spices and perfume. Under the FSS Act, gutkha can be categorised as a food product, and therefore should not contain substances injurious to health, like tobacco.
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi from Mumbai-based Tata Memorial Hospital said, "Mouth fresheners or something similar use menthol, perfume, spices, sugar, etc. to mask the bitter taste of tobacco and other carcinogens. "I get many cases where patients have been disfigured due to oral and mouth cancer caused by tobacco-laced mouth fresheners and tobacco products,” he added.
