450 kg of gutka seized by FSSAI

Acting on a tip-off that banned tobacco products were being loaded into a van from a godown at Annai Indira Nagar in Ponnaiarajapuram, a team of FSSAI officials led by B Vijayalalithambigai, the designated officer for Coimbatore district visited the spot. The officials seized the banned tobacco products and estimated it to be worth Rs 4 lakh. 

The FSSAI officials are inquiring the godown owner identified as Chellaram over the issue. This seizure comes barely two days after the FSSAI officials seized about 300 kilograms of gutka while being unloaded into a godown on Thomas Street.  

The FSSAI officials said that the banned tobacco products were mainly smuggled from Bangalore in Karnataka to Tamil Nadu. The smugglers buy them in Bangalore since there is no ban on gutka products to be sold. The officials have sent the samples of the seized tobacco packs for lab testing. Further action would be taken against the godown owner based on the test reports.