About biri

A Biri, also known as bidi or Biri, is a thin, often flavored, South Asian cigarette made of tobacco wrapped in a tendu (or temburini; Diospyros melonoxylon) leaf, and secured with colored thread at one end. Biries are smaller than regular cigarettes, but more potent. Because they do not have a filter and are wrapped in nonporous leaves, a smoker needs to inhale more often and more deeply to keep them lit. One biri produces three times more carbon monoxide and nicotine, and five times more tar than a regular cigarette. Tobacco content in beedies is 10-20%, and, unlike regular cigarettes, beedies do not contain added chemicals. Like all tobacco products, consumption can cause various cancers.

Biri-rolling is a very important cottage industry in India. The process of rolling a biri is very similar to that of a handmade cigarette.

Biries have long been popular among the poor in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and India who can not afford regular cigarettes. In India, 800 billion are smoked every year.

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