Label 'tobacco' as food item to ban it, suggests Delhi government to Centre

Delhi government's health department has urged the Centre to amend the definition of 'Food' and label 'tobacco' as a food item in the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 to tackle the menace of chewable tobacco in India.

"It is mentionable that no government will allow to put anything inside the mouth which is a poison or a toxic substance. If we modify the definition of 'food' by saying that 'a substance which is put into the mouth for the purpose of consumption fully or partially, by methods like chewing, sucking or any other method may be labelled as a 'Food Item," said S K Arora, Additional Director, Health, Government of Delhi, in a letter to the Union Health Ministry.

Referring to the 2011 regulation of Food Safety Act which prohibits consumption of any substance as food which contains tobacco or nicotine as an additive substance, Arora said, "Thus, all kinds of chewable tobacco whether raw, scented, flavoured or any other will automatically get banned permanently through a Central Act for which no state will have to issue repeated notifications and which usually lands up in the court because of the tobacco industry's interference."

Arora said consumption of chewable tobacco is increasing in Delhi because of surrogate advertisements of pan masala, especially by Bollywood celebrities.

Immediately after coming to power in February 2015, the AAP government had issued a notification banning chewable tobacco but some manufacturing companies filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court on account of which it could not implemented.

"The previous notification lapsed its 1 year term but the court could not give a concrete decision on this matter.

"However, Delhi Government on its commitment to public health revised the notification on April 13, 2016 after the lapse of the previous notification. But this time also this notification has been challenged in the High Court and is due for hearing on May 3," Arora said.

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Golden Tobacco first to implement 85% pictorial health warnings

Health activists have welcomed the move by Golden Tobacco Company, among the oldest companies in the business of manufacturing tobacco items in India, to implement 85 per cent pictorial health warnings on both sides of their products.

Brands Panama and Golden Gold Flake are associated with the company.

The Union Health Ministry has written to all key government departments – Revenue, Commerce, External Affairs, Labour, Civil Aviation, and Tourism— to ensure that health warnings covering 85 per cent of the principal display on both sides of packages apply to all tobacco brands in India. The Ministry has also written to all Chief Secretaries of States/UTs to adhere to the policy.

“Golden Tobacco Company has shown that there are no issues in implementing the new health warnings. The arguments given by other tobacco companies are baseless,’’ said Binoy Mathew, senior programme officer at Voluntary Health Association of India.

He added that it if one company could comply with the rules, even others could.

“There is no evidence to suggest that introduction of large warnings ever had any adverse effect on the livelihood of people, while there is ample evidence to prove that millions of people in India face economic and health hardships because of their present engagement in tobacco farming, manufacturing of tobacco products, and related work,’’ read a statement released by the Voluntary Health Association of India.

Since tobacco is an addictive product, there cannot be any immediate impact, it added. Therefore, the introduction of larger pictorial health warnings is not likely to have an impact on the livelihood of farmers and other stakeholders.

Tobacco use is a leading cause of tuberculosis-related mortality in India. Pictorial warnings on packages create awareness about health consequences of tobacco usage, especially among youth, children, illiterate, semi-illiterate and the uninitiated, who are either the primary users of tobacco or who may be vulnerable to using tobacco products.

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Smoking makes your vision poorer shows research

With a surge in eye-related diseases in India, Ophthalmologist has said smoking is emerging as one of the major reasons behind vision-loss among patients. However, only 10-20 percent people are aware of it.

According to the doctors, several studies have shown that smoking increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration, cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and dry eye syndrome.

"One way to reduce the risk of developing Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is by not smoking. Smokers are three to four times more likely to develop AMD than non-smokers. Non-smokers living with smokers almost double their risk of developing AMD," said Mahipal S. Sachdev, chairperson and managing director of city-based Centre for Sight.

Macular degeneration causes loss in the centre of the field of vision. In dry macular degeneration, the centre of the retina deteriorates. With wet macular degeneration, leaky blood vessels grow under the retina.

Elaborating further, he said: "AMD begins as a loss of central vision which makes it difficult to read and see fine details. Over time, vision loss increases significantly.

Sachdev said vision loss due to smoking does not have any symptoms like many other eye diseases, but a dilated exam can detect eye diseases in their early stages before vision loss occurs.

Some other types of eye-related problems caused by excessive smoking include cataract and glaucoma.

"People who smoke in excess like 10 cigarettes a day have up to three times the risk of cataract as non-smokers. Similarly, there is a strong nexus between glaucoma and smoking," said Sachdev.

Talking about prevention, Ritika Sachdev, a Delhi-based opthalmologist, said there is a need for special awareness among people about the strong link between smoking and vision loss.

"First of all, it is important for people to either quit smoking or bring down its consumption. Not just lungs and throat but the eye nerves too get damaged in the entire process," said Ritika.

The doctor added that it’s time to seek professional help if any smoker finds that straight lines appear wavy, faded or blurred vision, or trouble seeing things in the distance, or faces or words on a page or constant water dripping from eyes.

"One of the major areas that need to be emphasised for all smokers includes eating healthy. Protecting eyes starts with a healthy balanced diet. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, zinc and vitamins C and E might help ward off age-related vision problems such as macular degeneration and cataract due to smoking," she said.

Source: Indiainfoline

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