Strategic and contested use of food laws to ban smokeless tobacco products in India: a qualitative analysis of litigation

Abstract

ObjectiveTo understand how food laws are used, contested and interpreted to ban certain forms of chewing tobacco in India.MethodsA qualitative study analysing all the tobacco-related litigation under the food laws in India. We used an inductive thematic analysis of the litigation contents.ResultsThe tobacco industry systematically deployed litigation to (1) challenge the categorisation of smokeless tobacco products as food, and hence, questioned the use of food laws for regulating these products; (2) challenge the regulatory power of the state government in banning tobacco products via the food laws; and (3) challenge the applicability of the general food laws that enabled stricter regulations beyond what is prescribed under the tobacco-specific law.ConclusionDespite facing several legal challenges from the tobacco industry, Indian states optimised food laws to enable stricter regulations on smokeless tobacco products than were feasible through use of a tobacco-specific law.