The cloud over the silver lining

Shyamal Banerjee/Mint

Also Read | Vandana Vasudevan’s earlier columns

But of course, this is not about vegetarian or non-vegetarian. This is about the deplorably unhygienic way a widely consumed edible matter is produced, and hence affects people on both sides of the food divide.

Varak production is an unorganized industry. So, Singh laments, this is how, unfortunately, 95% of it is made in India. Very little is produced hygienically by machines. In Singh’s factory, a computerized machine ensures that the pieces covered with polyester cloth, are hammered evenly by a guided mallet.

Surendra Karnavat of Kanishka Platinum, Gold and Silver products is a chartered accountant and a US citizen who set up his varak making factory in Jaipur in 2006. In his process, the silver pieces are sandwiched between food grade paper that he imports from France, and then hammered by a machine. I ask him about cases where aluminium foil is passed off fraudulently as silver foil and he admits with candour, that such cases are more the norm than the exception. Apart from greed being the motive, the escalating price of silver makes it difficult to earn a profit and tempt manufacturers to shortchange quality. It also helps that the end consumer is blissfully unaware. Aluminium varak would be duller than pure silver varak, but a lay person would rarely notice.

I asked the two varak manufacturers whether there is a price-quality link. Can customers hope that the high-end mithaiwallahs whose sweets are costlier, buy their silver foil from people like them who sell hygienic, machine-manufactured varak? The answer was an unexpected “no". Both Singh and Karnavat in separate conversations said there is no correlation and it was wrong to assume that the big halwai was any more conscientious than the small one.

So how is the end customer to know whom to patronize for good quality varak mithai? Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a way.

Singh’s company provides his mithaiwallah customers a certificate to display in his shop which declares that he uses pure, good quality silver foil, but there’s no obligation on the shop to display it. At any rate, the likes of Singh and Karnavat cater to a minuscule number of mithaiwallahs. Karnavat explains that nearly one tonne of silver is made into varak everyday in India. His company produces 40-50kg of varak per day. There are very few such companies. So, virtually any varak that you consume is made by hand in booklets of animal hide.

Piyush Singh however is confident the future is brighter. Several Jain organizations have raised awareness in their vegetarian community about this issue, as have animal welfare NGOs. He feels slowly machine manufacturing will take over.

Separately, though small traces of metals have been used in Ayurvedic medicines since ancient times, scientific studies in the US, now show that silver is bio-accumulative, which means once consumed it stays in the human body, and a build up is potentially toxic.

All things considered, it might be a good idea to substitute varak with other decorations such as rose petals, saffron strands and almond slivers, while cooking at home and abstain from silver foil sweets while buying from a shop. After all, if mithai production was a movie, varak would only be the item number—not essential but adding a bit of dazzle. A good director would cut off the item song if it detracts from the main plot.

Vandana Vasudevan is a graduate from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and writes on mass urban consumer issues. Your comments are welcome at toughcustomer@livemint.com