Summary:
FileTHE new notification of Maharashtra FDA, dated July 17, has shocked public health experts and the medical fraternity because it has permitted the sale of flavoured supari or areca nut, popularly known as pan masala. Encouraged by the success of the ban, successive FDA commissioners renewed the notification and extended the ban on flavoured supari (without tobacco). Our state is bound to become a laughing stock if the pan masala ban isn’t continued,” said Professor Pankaj Chaturvedi, Tata Memorial Hospital. File Maharashtra was the first state to ban gutkha and pan masala in July 2012. “WHO and several studies in India have proved beyond doubt that pan masala causes serious health hazards, including mouth and throat cancer..