Anti-Tobacco Campaign

Government of India has notified the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011 dated 1st August 2011, under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which prohibit the use of tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in any food products. The said Regulation 2.3.4 lays down as under:

“Product not to contain any substance which may be injurious to health: Tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food products”.

So far 33 States / Union Territories have issued orders for implementation of the Food Safety Regulations banning manufacture, sale and storage of food products including Gutka and Pan Masala containing tobacco or nicotine. (Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Andaman & Nicobar, Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, J&K, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puducherry).

The Government has launched a nationwide campaign “Tears You Apart”, to raise public awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco.

The campaign public service announcement (PSA) was filmed in B. Barooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati, Assam and at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The PSA features real victims who are suffering from horrific cancers and disfigurements as a result of their chewing addiction. It also includes comments from relatives of victims, who describe how tobacco-related illnesses have destroyed careers, family life, and added to financial burdens. The PSA graphically warns the public that tobacco can literally tear lives and families apart, and urges smokeless tobacco users to quit the habit.

The Ministry, under the National Level Public Awareness Campaign, has launched other media campaigns both in national as well as regional electronic channels (both TV & Radio/FM) , outdoor media and print media focusing on the harmful effects of smokeless tobacco use.

The Ministry has notified the new graphic health warnings which have come into effect from 1st April 2013. Three sets of graphic health warnings each have been notified for smokeless as well as smoking forms of tobacco.

The Ministry has also notified the rules to regulate depiction of tobacco products or their use in films and TV programmes. As per these rules, all films and TV programmes (both Indian & Foreign) depicting tobacco products or their use have to screen a health spot of 30 seconds duration and a disclaimer of 20 seconds duration on the harmful effects of tobacco use, at the beginning and the middle of the films and TV programmes.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

BN/HB