Jharkhand bans pan Masala for one year

Ranchi: Jharkhand govt on Friday banned 11 brands of Pan masala for one year.

A state govt notification issued by health secretary Nitin Kulkarni says “ 41 samples of pan masalas of different brands including Rajni Gandha, Raj Niwas, Dilruba and others were collected from different districts for test and analysis during 2019-20. All samples were found containing magnesium carbonate as an ingredient in it. It is found that as per scientific research consumption of pan masala for years leads to acute hyper magnesia and sometimes leads to cardiac arrest. Magnesium carbonate is a violation of Food Safety and Standards acts”.

The sale, hoarding, stocks are banned for a period of one year.

The Pan masala products include pan Bahar, Sikhar Pan masala, Bahar pan masala, pan paraga and others.

“ Jharkhand govt has taken a courageous step to ban pan masala. As per GATS 2 survey 38.9 per cent people of Jharkhand use tobacco products which is the higher than the national average. The ban will bring down the tobacco users in the state” said Deepak Mishra a govt official to reporters.