Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34893893›Full record

ArticleNicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco2022

Beyond Gutka: Evidence of Illegal Smokeless Tobacco in Rural and Semi-urban Areas in India.

Kevin Welding, Sejal Saraf, Michael Iacobelli, Katherine Clegg Smith, Namrata Puntambekar, Prakash C Gupta, Joanna E Cohen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Kevin WeldingInstitute for Global Tobacco Control, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1833-6691
Sejal SarafInstitute for Global Tobacco Control, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Michael IacobelliInstitute for Global Tobacco Control, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1058-1104
Katherine Clegg SmithInstitute for Global Tobacco Control, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Namrata PuntambekarHealis-Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, Mahape, Navi Mumbai, India.
Prakash C GuptaHealis-Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, Mahape, Navi Mumbai, India.
Joanna E CohenInstitute for Global Tobacco Control, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionGutka, a popular smokeless tobacco (SLT) product combining chewing tobacco, areca nut, and spices, was banned by states in India beginning in 2012. Gutka can be recreated by the user mixing twin packets of tobacco and spice mixtures. We examine the availability of premixed gutka, the sale of twin packets (chewing tobacco and spice mixture sold together but in separate packets) and whether SLT was sold without legally mandated health warning labels (HWLs), without the printed maximum retail price (MRP), and above the MRP. AIMS AND

methodsIn October/November of 2017, unique SLT packets were purchased using a systematic protocol in 25 localities with populations under 50 000 across five Indian states. Purchase information (location, twin packets, price paid) and packaging information (SLT type, printed MRP, type of HWL) were used to assess legality.

resultsOf the 240 purchases of unique SLT packets, three were premade gutka. Twin packets were half of the sample, sold in every state, and illegally sold in Maharashtra where they were banned. Over half (62%) of single packets and 27% of twin packets did not feature a legal HWL. While only 5% of packets did not have a printed MRP, 29% of single packets, and 38% of twin packets were sold illegally for more than the MRP.

conclusionsSLT without the proper HWL or sold above the MRP were common. Twin packets were widely available. India should consider a country-wide restriction to ban single serving tobacco packets that would decrease affordability. IMPLICATIONS: This study is the earliest and that first outside of Mumbai that we are aware of to present evidence of tobacco products being sold above the MRP in India. While finding little evidence of premade gutka being sold, we found twin packets (chewing tobacco and spice mixture packets sold together) are widely available even in Maharashtra, which has a policy in place to ban twin packets. This study also finds evidence of SLT products sold without the correct HWL and without a MRP listed which shows that implementation and enforcement of regulations are as important as passing regulations.

Indexed as

Tobacco IndustryTobacco ProductsTobacco, SmokelessHumansIndiaTobacco Use

Identifiers

PMID34893893
PMCPMC9048865

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.