“When you’re young and you see paan that’s flavoured and it looks like hundreds-and-thousands you want to eat it. I didn’t know that ‘betel nut’ could cause cancer"  Youth club member.

Paan, Gutka, Supari, Naswar - we've been chewing tobacco and ‘betel nut’ for years and it’s a tradition that second and third generation of British Asians are also partaking in. But with new research revealed about incidence of mouth cancer, could it be time to change our ways? In this Asian Network Reports Special we reveal how Asian women are 80 per cent more likely to develop mouth cancer than women from the white population .

Chewing tobacco and areca nut , also know as betel nut is a tradition and cultural trend in many Asian households. But most people are unaware that chewing these often sweet mixtures of tobacco, coconut, paan leaves and the apparently harmless areca nut can lead to a condition called submucus fibrosis which in turn can lead to mouth cancer.

With children as young as five chewing potentially harmful mixtures of tobacco and areca nut, could it be time to put away the paan and say Goodbye to Gutka?

Presenter: Konnie Huq
Producer: Nicola Humphries
Series Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

Useful Links

If you have concerns about any of the issues in today’s programme and would like further sources of information and support:, you can call the BBC Action Line on 08000 563 556. All calls are confidential and free from a landline.

Or log onto the following organisations:

• Cancer Research
• Cardio Wellness
• Macmillan Cancer Support
  Mouth Cancer Foundation