With the Union government informing the Lok Sabha recently that concerns raised over arecanut being carcinogenic still prevailed, stakeholders have decided to call on Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan next week to apprise the government of the uses of arecanut and how it is not harmful.

S.R. Satishchandra, president, Central arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd. (CAMPCO) told The Hindu that CAMPCO and representatives of other stakeholders — Totagars’ Cooperative Sale Society Ltd. (TSS), Sirsi; Malnad Areca Marketing Cooperative Society Ltd. (MAMCOS), Shivamogga, and The Tota Uthppannagala Marata Sahakara Sangha Niyamitha, Channagiri — will meet Mr. Harsh Vardhan in Delhi. The delegation will apprise him of the contents of a report of the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, on arecanut submitted to his Ministry earlier this year. The report has highlighted the uses of arecanut, Mr. Satishchandra said. He said the delegation will discuss with the Minister on the steps to be taken to remove the “negative image” surrounding arecanut.

In Lok Sabha

Replying to an unstarred question, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, told the Lok Sabha on July 12, 2019: “There are certain studies suggesting that arecanut has adverse health effects on various organs of the body. There are also concerns regarding it being carcinogenic to the oral cavity, pharynx, oesophagus etc.”

On December 22, 2017, the then Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel, replying to an unstarred question by Om Prakash Yadav, MP, Bihar, had told the Lok Sabha that consumption of supari caused periodontitis, buccal mucositis, submucous fibrosis and leukoplakia, leading to oral squamous cell cancer and that the regular use of arecanut stained the mucosa, gums and teeth.