Let your children consume it: Tukaram Mundhe to gutka-endorsing celebrities

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has questioned celebrities and public figures who endorse paan and gutka products, saying they should apply the same standards to themselves and their families as they do while promoting such products to the public.Speaking at an NDTV event recently, Mundhe said, “If you are advertising paan or gutka, then you should consume it first. Let your children consume it and make it a habit. Then tell everyone else to do it. Why should it work the other way around?”His remarks came after the Maharashtra FDA issued show-cause notices to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over their participation as brand endorsers in an advertisement for Vimal Elaichi. The FDA has alleged that the campaign could amount to surrogate or indirect promotion of prohibited pan masala or tobacco-related products.Mundhe said people cannot have one set of standards in their personal lives and another when they are working professionally. If someone publicly tells people that a product is good, the same standard should apply to the person promoting it, he said. He also criticised what he described as sycophancy and different standards in different situations. “I hate to be a sycophant. Anybody. I hate sycophancy. Double standards, multiple standards, multiple faces, I don’t like them,” he said at the event. The commissioner also rejected the argument that actors who appear in advertisements are only the faces of campaigns and have no responsibility for the products they promote. Referring to the view that “I am a commercial person, I am an actor, I am an actress, I am somebody, therefore, I am advertising it. It is not my responsibility. It is only the producer’s responsibility”, Mundhe said, “That is not the case.” He said an endorsement is not only about lending one’s face to a brand, and that public figures also have a responsibility to understand what they are asking people to consume or believe.Mundhe said the issue goes beyond personal morality or ethics and also involves the legal responsibilities of sponsors. He said the law does not permit misleading claims in relation to food or drugs. The notices, dated August 11, 2026, were issued under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and related regulations. The actors were given 15 days from the date of receipt to submit written explanations. The FDA said failure to respond, or an explanation found to be unsatisfactory, could lead to further action under the law. In the notices, the FDA said the Vimal brand is “prominently associated with Pan Masala in the market” and pointed out that pan masala products are prohibited in Maharashtra. Mundhe later said at a press conference that Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff had responded to the show-cause notices, and that two of them had sought a hearing.- Ends