The Union Government has planned to undertake a ‘Evidence-based research on arecanut and human health’ study.

Recently the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd had written to the Centre seeking its intervention against the WHO’s classification of the arecanut as carcinogenic. The cooperative supported its demand with findings from various national and international agencies that had highlighted the benefits of arecanut on human health.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Bhagirath Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said the ministry has planned to undertake a study titled ‘Evidence-based research on arecanut and human health’ to address the knowledge gap and provide conclusive evidence on the health effects of arecanut.

This study brings together around 16 national and state-level agencies dealing with medical research, including the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and others, to conduct detailed research on the effect of arecanut on human health.

Stating that the Government is aware of the challenges faced by arecanut farmers, he said it is noticed that certain research papers on the health effects of arecanut, which are quoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), have methodological limitations, leading to inconclusive reports. “Notably, most of these studies focused on the health impacts of chewing mixtures, such as betel quid and ‘gutkha’, which contain arecanut along with other ingredients. These studies have not indicated the sole and specific effects of consumption of arecanut isolate on human health,” he said.

Mentioning that a systematic review of the available literature was conducted by multi-institutional stakeholders at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, in November 2023, he said this review revealed that the arecoline (alkaloid in arecanut) dosage used in these experiments was of a higher concentration compared to that released during normal chewing. “Some studies have also revealed that arecoline, in lesser doses, has been found to inhibit tumour growth,” he said.

Moisture

To a separate query on whether the Government has reviewed the impact of the FSSAI’s 7 per cent maximum moisture content requirement on the viability and profitability of arecanut farming, particularly for growers in regions like Karnataka where climate and natural drying processes make

compliance challenging, Ramnath Thakur, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has not carried out any impact assessment to review the 7 per cent maximum moisture content requirement for arecanut.

However, ICAR-CPCRI, Kasaragod, evaluated arecanut samples collected from different places which were analysed for moisture and water activity in arecanut. For storage of arecanut under dry condition, moisture content of 11 per cent with corresponding water activity of 7.1 was found reasonably safe, he said.

Asked whether the Government has considered revising the moisture content requirement to a more feasible standard, he said no such amendment is currently under consideration by FSSAI.

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