Jash International’s products pulled from the US.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: As the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues its crusade to crack down on Indian drug manufacturers, the watchdog agency announced that it was banning four kinds of beedis (Indian cigarettes) because they potentially carry unapproved tobacco contents.
The products in question are Sutra Bidis Red, Sutra Bidis Menthol, Sutra Bidis Red Cone, and Sutra Bidis Menthol Cone, all of which are produced by India-based company Jash International. The beedi manufacturer did not disclose to the FDA the exact ingredients of each product, which is a requirement for the administration’s stamp of approval. As a result, the cigarettes were pulled, striking yet another blow to the credibility of Indian companies in the eyes of the US government.
The announcement against Jash International came through the release of a press statement from the FDA. They define beedis as “thin, hand-rolled cigarettes filled with tobacco and wrapped in leaves from a tendu tree that are tied with string,” and said that the company not only did not disclose the components of the aforementioned four products, but also did not describe their characteristics and whether or not they were comparable to other similar products already approved and on the market.
“Companies have an obligation to comply with the law – in this case, by providing evidence to support an SE application,” said Mitch Zeller, J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “Because the company failed to meet the requirement of the Tobacco Control Act, the FDA’s decision means that, regardless of when the products were manufactured, these four products can no longer be legally imported or sold or distributed through interstate commerce in the United States.”
The FDA crackdown comes while debate rages over the e-cigarettes, particularly whether or not they’re truly effective at curbing cigarette usage or are simply a gateway towards them. E-cigarettes essentially give smokes their fix of nicotine, the substance within cigarettes that makes them addictive, but does not contain the tobacco and other components that make cigarettes so dangerous.
In a New York Times piece published Saturday, public health researcher Dr. Michael Siegel says that “e-cigarettes seem like a good idea, but they aren’t,” and that they aren’t nearly as healthy as they’re purported to be. That sentiment is shared by many, who say that it’s not a quick cure, but rather just an alternative way of introducing some of the same poisons into your body.
Cigarette usage claims roughly 480,000 lives every single year in the US alone.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com