Whitener addiction on the rise among teens

whitener-inhalation addiction is the first step to drug addiction or alcoholismToothpastes contain cancer causing nicotine, finds study

many of the toothpaste manufacturers are adulterating toothpastes and toothpowders with high quantity of nicotine.

Amid claims that e-cigarettes can also pause cancer risks, a study has found that young adults believe electronic cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes - a

presumption that is turning even nonsmokers to nicotine addiction.

"Half of current users of e-cigarettes are nonsmokers

Whitener addiction on the rise among teens• According to a recent report submitted before the court by the police

department, whitener-inhalation addiction is the first step to drug addiction or alcoholism.

India tightens rules on cigarettes, tobacco branding oct’2014

• Tobacco companies in India will have to stamp health warnings across 85 percent of the surface of cigarette packs and other products, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, joining nations such as Thailand and Australia with stringent marketing rules.

• They require 60 percent of the pack's surface to carry pictorial warnings, with written warnings on another 25 percent. Currently, 20 percent of the surface is covered in warnings, according to a recent report.

• ITC Ltd, India's biggest cigarette maker, and Godfrey Phillips, another manufacturer, declined to comment on the Health Ministry's notification.

• Tobacco Institute of India (TII), a body representing the cigarette industry, complained the industry was not consulted before passing the notification.

• "The proposed warnings are unreasonable, drastic and impractical to implement and enforce," TII's director Syed M. Ahmad told Reuters in a statement.

• the Indian government is perhaps one of the only governments in the world which has a strategic stake in a tobacco company and ironically even it's insurance company Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), which provides life insurance policies, has a stake in the conglomerate.

• A recent study commissioned by the World Health Organisation reveals that an overwhelming majority of Hindi films depict some form of tobacco use, and that three-fourths of top-rated films send out a message to the youth that smoking is a trendy lifestyle option

Geographical distribution Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka

Output per annumIndian Tobacco and tobacco products earn a whopping annual sum of about Rs.10271 crores

Percentage in world market

India today holds a meager 0.7% share of the US$ 30 bn global trade in tobacco, with cigarettes contributing for 85% of the country's total tobacco exports.

Market CapitalizationIndian Tobacco Industry's exports are likely to touch Rs. 16,050 million towards the end of current fiscal

Around 48% is in the form of chewing tobacco out of the total tobacco produced in the country, were 38% as bidis, and only 14% as cigarettes. These bidis snuff and chewing tobacco (such as gutka, khaini and zarda) form the bulk (86%) of India's total tobacco production. Production of cigarettes is 90% of total production of tobacco related products in the rest of the world.

The Tobacco Industry in India makes a notable contribution to the economy by earning about US$ 900 million of foreign exchange. Also it earns US$ 3.4 billion to the central exchequer by way of excise levies on manufactured tobacco. In India the per capita consumption of cigarettes is merely a tenth of the world average. The unique tobacco consumption pattern is the combination of tradition and more essentially the tax imposed on cigarettes. Cigarette smokers pay almost 85% of the total tax revenues generated from tobacco.

• Tobacco is an important commercial crop that provides employment to nearly 36 million people in India.

• Exports of Indian Tobacco have grown at a rate of 15.8 per cent from US$ 322.49 million in 2005-06 to a record US$ 900.64 million in 2012-13. India has so far exported 18,003 tonnes of tobacco in the period of 2014-15. India is the second-largest exporter of FCV tobacco in the world. Indian tobacco is exported to around 100 countries.

• India exports un-manufactured tobacco primarily to Western Europe, South & South-east Asia, East Europe and Africa. India has exported around US$ 64.38 million worth of tobacco in year 2014.

chewing 48%

bidi 38%

cigrette 48%Tobacco

chewing bidi cigrette

Indian Beedi Business

• All bidi packets are not labelled with strong picture health warnings to inform smokers about the harmful effects. And taxes on bidis are very low to cause difference between cigarettes and bidis.

• The current taxation system on bidis allows the industry to avoid paying taxes, as manufacturers producing less than 2 million bidis a year are exempt from excise duties.

• According to recent studies, 76% of bidi rollers earn a meagre Rs. 33 per thousand bidi rolled – which takes up at least 12 hours a day. This is much below the minimum wage fixed by the government.

Governments of beedi in MP, UP, Orissa, Rajasthan

• The presence of beedi baron S C Gupta, MP, in a parliamentary committee on subordinate legislation that discussed larger pictorial warnings on tobacco packs may have caused outrage over conflict of interest.

• Tobacco Institute of India (TII), a body representing the cigarette industry, complained the industry was not consulted before passing the notification."The proposed warnings are unreasonable, drastic and impractical to implement and enforce," TII's director Syed M. Ahmad told Reuters in a statement.

• MP Shyama Charan Gupta who said nothing wrong with beedis flaunts his beedi empire.

• Gupta said that the reports stating bidi products more enjurious to health, is an American conspiracy.

Exploiting the poor

The bidi industrialists are very cleverly evading the provisions specified under the labour laws – the Child Labour Act 1986 and Bonded Labour System (Abolition Act 1976). There are approximately 4.4 million full time workers and another 4 million jobs related to this industry. Most of them are largely poor and illiterate. Most of the bidi industry is unregulated and home-based, making it difficult to ensure standard working conditions and to implement welfare laws.

About 1 in 5 employee is a child

The bidi rolling industry has been forcing the involvement of children especially minor girls at the age between eight and ten to join as part of a working family. Children comprise 15 to 25% of total employment in the bidi industry. Interestingly, India’s child labour laws do not cover child who help with families chore. But bidi rolling is a hazardous work that cannot be viewed as similar to household chores.

A threat to Indian women… There is widespread exploitation, particularly, of women and minor girls in the industry by a group of middlemen, sub-contractors as well as factory owners. Women workers including underage girls are suffering from serious health problems such as lung infection and tuberculosis.

Do you enjoy Toothpaste more?

• A study by the Delhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research (DIPSAR) has found that many of the toothpaste manufacturers are adulterating toothpastes and toothpowders with high quantity of nicotine.

• According to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, tobacco cannot be added to non-tobacco products like toothpastes and toothpowders.

• Section 7(5) of the Act lays down that every tobacco package should have nicotine and tar contents along with the maximum permissible limits, which is not being done by these toothpaste manufacturers

Enjoy food?• researchers claim that salt is addictive in the

same way as cigarettes or hard drugs, with the craving triggering the same genes, brain cells and brain connections.

• The finding could help explain why many find it so hard to cut back on salt, despite warnings about dangers to blood pressure and heart health.

• given access to high-sugar, high-fat, high-salt foods, many of us will eat them in excessive amounts.

• Overeating is Not Fault: How the Food Industry Makes You Eat More Than You Think.

• Deep fried anything? The water content is replaced with fat ==> Creating that crispiness you like so much, and a much stronger flavor.

Examples…• Some Doritos have more than three times as much sodium as potato chips.• Three slices of Oscar Meyer ham can contain more than half a day’s recommended

sodium intake.• Even V8 juice has 420mg of sodium per cup, or 20% of your daily recommended

intake.• Commercially produced bread is heavy on salt because it keeps the machines from

getting gummed up.• There’s as much sugar in half a cup of Prego tomato sauce……as there is in three Oreos (two teaspoons)• The American Heart Association’s recommendation for women’s sugar intake is just

five teaspoons a day….….That’s half a can of Coke.• a large (10-ounce) bag of Lay’s packs one and a half days’ worth of fat (about 100g).