Click to play videoNew Delhi: Is gutkha with tobacco in it really a food product? Not anymore, says a Health Ministry gazette notification amended on Monday.
The government has also made it compulsory for colas to declare that they contain caffeine.
These sweeping changes have been made through a government notification on the Prevention of Food adulteration Act, which has introduced stringent food norms.
The notification now bans tobacco and nicotine from all food products including gutkha but experts are already questioning the changes in the norms.
"In the definition of the food they must put it that tobacco or gutkha will be excluded from the definition of food," a food consultant with the CII D S Chadda says.
But all the changes will take effect exactly a year from now.
"In other developed countries nutritional values like carbohydrates, fat content and calories are mentioned. But when it is sold here nothing is mentioned. People should know what they are eating," Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr Anbumani Ramdoss says.
What is good for the consumer is not good news for the industry. They say that the provisions are too stringent and its implementation will be difficult.
But this will put India at par with European standards.
A juicy apple that has been imported from the US has a shelf life of nearly one month.
That's because its been treated with radiation and though the radiation is well within permissible limits, in the next few months when one buys the apple, it will have the international symbol of radiation on it.
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