According to Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of India, 0.1% of menthol
in Pan Masala (PM) samples is permitted. Pan Masala is a mixture of arecanu
t, catechu, lime, cardamom and unspecified flavouring agents with or withou
t tobacco. It is being consumed as a substitute for betel quid. Among 622 s
amples collected from the State of Uttar Pradesh, Ind a, only 9.32 % sample
s showed the level of menthol below 0.1 %. Almost 89 % of sada and 94 % of
zarda PM samples exceeded the permissible limits of menthol. In village and
city markets, almost 89 and 93 % PM samples showed higher levels of mentho
l than the PFA limits, respectively. Only 3.3 and 15.4 % of packed and non-
packed PM samples were within the permissible limits, respectively. Samples
collected from one district of the State showed menthol within the permiss
ible limit, while those collected from remaining 62 districts showed the av
erage values above 0.1 %. The study showed that 6 brands of PM contained me
nthol within the permissible limit, while the remaining 44 brands exceeded
the prescribed limits of menthol. It was suggested that Goods Manufacturing
Practices should be adopted by those manufacturers whose products had the
menthol concentration, exceeding the permissible limit. Menthol content was
found to be more than 0.1 % in samples drawn from 5 zones of the State.