Written By: Bhavyajyoti Chilukoti | Published : October 10, 2017 12:43 PM IST
A question that most vegetarians have when it comes to choosing vark mithai or sweets is whether it is vegetarian or non-vegetarian. The reason being it is believed that the silver leaf (Chandi ki vark) is made using aminal intestines, which makes it non-vegetarian. But are sweets with Chandi ki vark non-vegetarian? Here is what Dr Saurabh Arora, Founder of Food Safety Helpline.com and MD Auriga research and Director at Arbro Pharmaceuticals has to say about it. Here's more on Chandi-ka-vark (silver leaf) on sweets significance and side effects
How is a silver leaf (Chandi ki wark) made?
The manufacturing process of silver leaf varies as per the different regions in India. The common methods used include -
Though manufacturers say that intestines are treated with herbs and it doesn not come in direct contact with silver leaf, but it is still not accepted by some communities in India so some manufacturers have switched to modern methods of manufacturing silver leaf. Here are healthy mithai replacements you can try this Diwali.
Vegetarian vs non-vegetarian vark mithia -- what you need to know?
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has amended the regulations and has stated that Silver Leaf will not be manufactured using any material of animal origin at any stage of the manufacturing process. The Delhi High Court has stayed the implementation of this regulation on a PIL filed by traditional manufacturers of Silver Leaf that use animal intestines for preparing the chandi-ka-warq as this would lead to job losses for hundreds of workers. The manufacturers claim that -
Also read about the calorie count in your favourite mithai!
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