Gutkha, Pan Masala Ban: Big setback for Gutkha, Pan Masala lovers. In Uttarakhand, the government has imposed a one-year ban on gutka, paan masala, and similar products containing tobacco and nicotine. The ban, issued by Food Safety and Drug Administration Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey on October 13, 2026, prohibits the production, storage, distribution, and sale of these items.
Government Bans Gutka, Pan Masala
The decision is in line with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011. This ban will be effective for a year from the date of the order to safeguard public health.
The administration highlights that the inclusion of tobacco and nicotine in food is forbidden, yet there have been reports of these components in products like gutka and paan masala. To prioritize public health, these products are now prohibited throughout all districts of Uttarakhand under this order.
The Food Safety and Drug Administration has circulated the order to key officials, including the Chief Secretary, Medical Health and Medical Education Department Secretary, Director General of the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department, District Magistrates, and Chief Medical Officers.
Divisional and district-level authorities have been directed to enforce the ban accordingly. The order will be published in the State Gazette, with the Food Safety Department and district administration tasked with ensuring compliance and addressing any breaches.
Uttarakhand bans tobacco and nicotine gutkha and pan masala for one year
The Food Safety and Drug Administration has banned the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha, pan masala and other food products containing tobacco or nicotine across Uttarakhand for one year.
The order was issued on October 13, 2026, by Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey, under Section 30(2)(a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. It cites Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, which bars the use of tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in any food product. The order calls such products a threat to public health.
The ban doesn’t only cover ready-made gutkha. It also applies to products where tobacco or nicotine is sold separately and mixed later, a common way companies get around the rules.
Copies of the order have been sent to the Chief Secretary, the Health Secretary, all District Magistrates, Chief Medical Officers and food safety officials across Garhwal and Kumaon for action.
Orders like this aren’t new. Yet gutkha and pan masala sachets are still sold openly at almost every shop in the state. The real test isn’t the order. It’s whether anyone actually enforces it.
“>October 13, 2026
The use of tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in any food is strictly prohibited under Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011. Despite this, tobacco and nicotine were being used in food products such as gutkha and pan masala.