Is Your Mithai Vegetarian?

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Is Your Mithai Vegetarian?

Maya Mukhi -- Compassionate Friend, Monsoon-Winter 1997 --- Beauty

Without Cruelty India

 

If you look beyond the glitter of varkh, into the sheds where it is

produced, and at the lives that are sacrificed to make this possible,

you'd think twice before buying that box of mithai topped with the

precious foil!

 

Silver foil, or varkh, as it is generally known in India, adds

glitter to mithai, supari, paan and fruit, and is used in Ayurvedic

medicines and on deities in many Jain temples. The silver-topped

mithai is even served as prasad in temples and on auspicious and

religious occasions. Varkh is also used in flavored syrups as in

kesar syrup.

 

Several years ago, as suggested by BWC, Indian Airlines instructed

their caterers to stop the use of varkh on mithai served on board

their flights. Today, many BWC members ask for mithai without varkh,

having realized the cruelty involved in its preparation.

 

According to a feature article in Business India, an astounding 275

tonnes of silver are beaten annually into foil for mithais and

chyavanprash! That is a whopping 275,000 kg.! (At the present market

rate that would cost a phenomenal Rs 165 crore).

 

Just how is varkh made and what is it that makes its preparation and

consumption so sinful?

 

Varkh is not derived from an animal source. However, a crucial

material of animal origin, ox-gut, is used in its manufacture. This

ox-gut is obtained from the slaughterhouse.

 

In the bylanes of the villages of Ahmedabad and other cities, amidst

filthy surroundings, placed between layers of ox-gut, small thin

strips of silver are hammered to produce the glittering foil.

 

The intestine (ox-gut), smeared with blood and mucus, is pulled out

from the slaughtered animal by the butcher for the specific purpose.

It is then taken away to be cleaned and used in the manufacture of

varkh.

 

The gut of an average cow, measuring 35 feet in length and 3 inches

in diameter, is cut open into a piece measuring 420 " x 10 " . From

this, strips of 9 " x 11 " are cut to give approximately 60 pieces of

ox-gut, which are then piled one onto another and bound to form a

book of 171 leaves. Next, small thin strips of silver are placed

between the sheets and the book slipped into a leather pouch (an

animal product again). Artisans then hammer these bundles

continuously for a day to produce extremely thin foils of silver of

3 " x 5 " . The leather and ox-gut, being supple, can withstand the

intense manual hammering for up to 8 hours a day till such time as

the silver is beaten to the desired thickness. When ready, the foil

is carefully lifted from between the leaves of ox-gut and placed

between sheets of paper to be sold to the mithaiwallas. A booklet of

160 foils weighs approximately 10 gm and costs about Rs 200.

 

An average middle class Indian family of four consuming approximately

100 kg of mithai per year for forty years consumes silver foil

produced with the gut of 3 cows and one-tenth of a cowhide!

 

India is not the only country where foil is made by such methods. In

Germany, small specialized enterprises produce gold-leaf, which is

beaten down to 1/10,000 mm thickness, for decorative and technical

purposes by similar methods. The gold foil is used by the Jews for as

much the same purpose, namely for food preparations, as it is in

India.

 

In India the 275 tonnes of silver that are beaten annually into varkh

utilize intestines of 516,000 cows and calf leather of 17,200 animals

each year. Therefore, BWC hopes that someone, somewhere will develop

through research an alternative process for the making of varkh

without using ox-gut.

 

http://www.jivdaya.org/is_your_mithai_vegetarian.htm