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In a draft notification released on 28 April 2026, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed stricter rules for packaging pan masala products in India. Through the proposal, the food regulator seeks to ban the use of plastic and multilayer packaging materials that are quite commonly used in sachet packs distributed across the country.
According to the draft notification, FSSAI has proposed certain amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018. The food regulator stated that pan masala shall be packed only in paper or paper board or cellulose based materials or other materials that are derived from naturally occurring substances that are free from any plastic material.
Further, the draft notification mentioned that pan masala packaging material should not contain plastic like polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, poly vinyl chloride and other plastic materials or any other synthetic polymers, copolymers or laminates. The food regulator proposed that pan masala products could be packaged in tin or glass containers instead.
In addition, it proposed that packaging materials should be free from aluminium foil and metallized materials. The notification also referred to the provisions made under the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016. These rules mention that, “sachet using plastic material shall not be used for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala.”
The proposal, if implemented, could greatly affect the producers of multilayer sachets and flexible plastic laminates, which are pretty popular in the chewing tobacco and pan masala industries due to their affordability factor, resistance to moisture and portability. Due to issues with recycling, multilayer plastic packaging has come under increased regulatory attention.
The Central Pollution Control Board, which is the apex statutory organisation in India for environmental protection and pollution control, claims that plastic trash is still a significant environmental problem in India and the multilayer plastic waste is one of the waste streams that is quite hard to recycle. According to industry estimates, the pan masala market is still dominated by sachet-based packaging, especially for low-cost, high-volume products sold through small retail stores in both urban and rural areas across the country.
Also Read: Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules 2026
Draft notification issued by FSSAI is currently open for public consultation. The regulator invites objectives and suggestions from stakeholders within 30 days from the notification’s publication date. If the proposed norms are enforced by the food regulator, the pan masala manufacturers and packaging suppliers would be required to shift to alternative packaging materials. This could potentially increase the packaging costs and require changes to be made in prevailing packaging infrastructure and practices.
Source: Business Today
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