NTA: Believe it or not, tobacco is good

Tobacco pie, anyone?

Don’t let the benefits of tobacco go up in smoke, pleads National Tobacco Administration (NTA) chief Carlitos Encarnacion, who points out that smoking cigarettes, not tobacco per se, is what is dangerous to one’s health.

Encarnacion revealed yesterday that an NTA study has shown that tobacco seeds can be processed into flour for pastries.

More important, tobacco extracts can be transformed into antibiotics, analgesics, antipyretics, anti-inflammatory drugs and vaccines, he claimed.

Thus, Encarnacion wants the celebration of "No Tobacco Day" on May 31 to be renamed "No Smoking Day."

"The trouble with the anti-tobacco sector is that they see only the smoking element in tobacco," he fumed.

Tobacco is also the lifeblood of several regions in the North.

Saying critics are in for a "big surprise," Encarnacion said an NTA study shows that tobacco has medical, industrial and other positive uses.

Encarnacion said tobacco is also a versatile plant as not only its leaves but also its stalks, roots, seeds, seed oil, extracts and wastes have uses. The tobacco industry, he stressed, has contributed billions of pesos to the National Treasury through excise taxes.

The NTA Research Department in Batac, Ilocos Norte has also shown that young tobacco leaves can also be a source of ethanol alcohol and protein food products.

"We are ready to face anyone for all these," said Encarnacion, who once served as the NTA’s deputy administrator and officer-in-charge.

According to Encarnacion, the NTA study said the beneficial by-products of tobacco include feeds for broilers and tilapia fingerlings and flour material for pastries (from tobacco seeds), paint, soap, edible oil and lamp fuel (from seed oil), three-layered panel boards and pulp products (from stalks) and mulloscicides and insecticides.

The study, released by NTA research chief Perlita Baula, also shows that tobacco stalks and roots can also be made into paper products, handicrafts, wall dividers, fans and other wall decor.

Encarnacion says he expects these tobacco by-products to be developed before the end of the year.

If plans push through, the prospects for tobacco are truly hot.