Streets of Karachi - Bildbanksfoto

Karachi, Pakistan - December 16, 2017: A shopkeeper sits before the container of NASWAR while filling the content into small packets and selling it to the customers in the old city locality of Saddar. NASWAR is a mixture of sun-dried local tobacco (sometimes only partially cured and powdered), ash, oil, flavoring agents (cardamom, menthol), coloring agents (indigo or yellow) and lime or calcium carbonate, water and guar gum. Ammonium chloride is added as a preservative and to give it bite. It is usually sold in round or square plastic packets held with a rubber band to keep it from exposure to the air. The WHO found this smokeless form of tobacco has a minimum of 28 cancer-causing agents.