Haryana bans manufacture, storage, sale of gutkha, paan masala

Chandigarh: Haryana government has prohibited manufacture, storage, sale and distribution of guthka and paan masala containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients from Wednesday and said violation of these orders would be punishable.

An order to this effect has been issued in the interest of public health for a period of one year, Commissioner of Food Safety, Haryana, Rakesh Gupta said here on Wednesday. He said `gutkha` and `paan masala` are articles of food in which tobacco and nicotine are widely used as ingredients. The Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act 2006, enacted by the Centre, prohibits the sale and manufacture of products which are injurious to health, he said. He said under the Act, any person who manufactures for sale, stores, sells, distributes or imports any food which is unsafe, shall be punishable. If the food item results in death, the person could face life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10 lakh, whereas in case of serious injury, the person could face six years jail and up to Rs five lakh fine, he said. If it results in non-grievous injury, it would be punishable with imprisonment up to one year and fine up to Rs three lakh, he said, adding for no injury, the person will face imprisonment for up to six months and Rs one lakh fine. PTI