Paan-flavored condoms are planned to go on sale in India. Offered by the Hindustan Latex company, which is state run, the flavour has had praise from sex workers. The flavour beat out banana and chocolate among the workers.
Paan is a combination of betel nut and tobacco very popular in India. Throughout South Asia street vendors sell the mixture of betel nut, tobacco and often sweet and bitter pastes to eager clients.
"The community loved it as most of the sex workers chew paan," Sanjeev Gaikwad, a director at advocacy group Family Health International who helped launch the new condom.
The condom will hit the stores later this year but sex workers have already been provided with them for their trade.