- The Karnataka Food Safety Commissioner has banned gutkha and pan masala with tobacco for one year
- The ban applies to manufacture, storage, distribution, transportation, and sale across Karnataka
- The order covers all products containing tobacco or nicotine, whether packaged or sold separately
The Office of the Commissioner of Food Safety, Karnataka, has banned the manufacture, storage, distribution, transportation and sale of gutkha and pan masala containing tobacco and/or nicotine across the state for a period of one year, citing public health concerns.
The notification, dated June 15, 2026, was issued under clause (a) of Sub-section (2) of Section 30 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, read with Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulation, 2011.
As per the notification, the ban covers gutkha and pan masala containing tobacco and/or nicotine, as well as any other products marketed separately that contain tobacco or nicotine in the final product, "whether packaged or un-packaged and/or sold as one product, or though packaged as separate products, sold or distributed in such a manner to easily facilitate mixing by the consumer."
The order specifically extends to gutkha and pan masala that contain tobacco and nicotine as ingredients and are packed in sachets, pouches, packages or containers, "or by whatever name it is called," across the entire state of Karnataka, effective from the date of the notification, for a period of one year.
The notification was issued by the Commissioner of Food Safety, Food Safety and Drug Administration, Bengaluru, in what it described as being "in the interest of public health."
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Karnataka has periodically renewed such prohibitory orders on gutkha and tobacco-laced pan masala under the Food Safety and Standards Act, following similar bans imposed by several other Indian states over the years in response to the established health risks associated with chewable tobacco products, including oral cancer and other tobacco-related illnesses.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has previously held that tobacco and nicotine cannot be used as ingredients in any food product, a position that has formed the legal basis for state-level bans on gutkha and pan masala across the country.
Manufacturers and sellers found violating such prohibitory orders are liable to face action under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
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