Written By: Bhavyajyoti Chilukoti | Published : October 10, 2017 11:36 AM IST
Come Diwali and you cannot miss the lovely display of sweets and dry fruits in shops and boxes of sweets from relatives. But the thing that gets our eye is the sweets decorated with silver leaf, known as chandi-ka-vark, in Hindi. The rich texture and glitter tempt everyone from kids to adults to taste it. Before buying sweets with chandi vark here are few things you need to know says Dr Saurabh Arora, Founder of Food Safety Helpline.com and MD Auriga research and Director at Arbro Pharmaceuticals. You will be shocked at how many calories are in your favourite mithai!
Why ischandi wark (edible silver leaf) used?
Silver leaf has been a part of Ayurveda medicine from centuries and was adopted into culinary art for garnishing. It was a special ingredient in Mughlai and Awadhi cuisine like shahi tukra, biryani, korma and kebabs and continues to be used in paan, dry fruits, supari, elaichi and other foods. It is known to --
Also read about health benefits of colloidal silver.
Chandi wark (edible silver leaf) -- does it cause any side-effects?
The eye-catching silvery glitter might not be silver at all but some other toxic metal. Adulteration is quite common during the festive season with the unwary consumer falling prey to it. Adulteration in silver leaf or chandi-ka-vark has been often detected by food regulators which include substitution of silver with aluminium or use of poor quality silver (which might not be of 99.9% purity). In addition to this, unhygienic preparation methods or unsanitary conditions in workshops can cause contamination which poses a risk of foodborne diseases. Also, traces of heavy metal contamination like nickel, lead, cadmium have been detected. Also read about healthy mithai replacements you can try this Diwali.
The Food Business Operators (FBOs) must ensure full compliance with regulations and carry out self- inspection to ensure there is no adulteration of the silver leaf at any cost.
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