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________________ FSSAI of India bans Silver Leaf (Chandi ka Varakh) of Animal Origin in Food Items (Version-2) The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has banned the use of any material of animal origin in silver leaf (chandi ka warq/Varakh), commonly used in confectioneries (sweet meat) and sweets like barfi for decoration and also in paan and packaged supari. This news is reported by the Times of India-Aug 2, 2016 and we have provided some links of actual news from various newspapers at the end of the e-mail. The FSSAI authority of India has banned this item because in the manufacturing of silver leaf (Varakh), cow's or buffalo's intestine (ox-gut) is used which is obtained from the slaughterhouse. The intestine (oxgut) is smeared with blood and mucus when is pulled out from the slaughtered animal by the butcher and sold as is to the Silver Leaf (Varakh) manufacturers. The small thin strips of silver placed between layers of intestines and continuously hammered for up to 8 hours a day for few days until the desired result of the glittering foil is obtained. The FSSAI Official said that this manufacturing process is offensive and unhygienic posing potential risk to consumers. Moreover, such silver sheets do not carry any green dot or maroon dot. Hence consumers fail to differentiate between a vegetarian and non-vegetarian product. There were also concerns that the silver leaf (Varakh) contained heavy metal traces such as nickel, lead, chromium and cadmium - which are harmful for health. These are the main reasons the FSSAI authority of India has banned the Silver Leaf (Chandi ka warq or varakh) on the food product. Veggie Silver Leaf (Varakh) Recently several companies have advertised that they produce the Veggie Varakh without using cows' intestine. They use the machine for hammering and patented synthetic material to replace the leather (cow's intestine) which can take intense hammering of the machine for several days. This process is very costly and hence in the country like India, one can easily obtain false certification and sell the regular nonvegetarian Varakh as cheap veggie Varakh. Also the function of Varakh is to decorate the food/sweets only. It does not add any nutritional value to it. The best alternative is to avoid Varakh on the food. Where to Report/Complain about Violators FSSAI encourages to post complains/comments about food safety issue related to adulteration, contamination, poor quality, improper packing, insufficient information on label, misleading advertisements, incomplete information about food, clarification from food operator on license, etc." by going to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) website http://www.fssai.gov.in/ or click the link http://www.fssai.gov.in/Feedback.aspx and Fill in online the "Consumer's Complaints / Suggestions / Queries Form" The FSSAI will be every much happy to help you as well guide you. Please insert your e-mail and identify yourself to receive a suitable reply. India is the World's Largest Beef Exporter CNN money news of August 5, 2016 published that India is the world's largest beef exporter. The article indicates that the large number of animals are needed to keep India's huge domestic dairy industry going. Because of the existence of this huge dairy industry, there are plenty of grown-up cows and buffaloes are available to slaughter for beef. The dairy cows and buffaloes are significantly cheaper than the animals
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________________ which are raised for beef only, because the dairy animals produce income during their growth period of first 5 years. In other words, Jains and vegetarian Hindus who consume milk and other dairy products directly support the beef export industry because almost every milk producing Cows and Buffaloes are slaughtered at about 5 years of age to support beef export industry while their life expectancy is about 20 years. I have also compiled the CNN's article at this link for easy review http:///$india beet export Baby Calf's Milk is Stolen from Mother Cow by Humans Any drop of milk that we use or consume is stolen (taken without the permission) from mother cow or buffalo that was meant for her baby. Nature has not made cows or buffaloes to produce more milk than the need of their babies unless we feed them hormones and genetically modify their genes. With the continuous use of hormones, we have forced the bodies of the mother cows and buffaloes to produce three to four times more milk than their natural need of their babies. Because of this reason, cows and buffaloes body breaks-down in five years and milk production yield drops significantly after 5 years. At this time, we send them to slaughter-house. Summary We Jains and vegetarian Hindus use Silver Leaf (Varakh) and milk in Tirthankara's/God's Puja, other rituals, and almost all sweets served in religious functions. Such items are very Himsak (Violent) as indicated above because it is obtained by torturing and indirectly or directly killing Cows and Buffaloes and other five sensed animals. In today's environment, the production of milk (and other dairy products), wool, silk, and pearl are as Himsak (violent) as the production of meat and Varakh or silver leaf. We Jains and vegetarian Hindus should banned all such items in our religious rituals and religious functions We have banned all such items in the JAINA Pathashala Educational books of North America (USA and Canada). More than 3000 students are in Jain Pathashalas of North America. "We must Practice our Religion based the Time, Place, and Environment we live in" and "We must accept the truth from whatever source it comes." This is the essence of Lord Mahavir's preaching The Book of Compassion 16 years ago, in the year 2000, Pujya Paramodaben Chitrabhanuji and I (Pravin K Shah) have compiled several such types of articles in English in a book named "The Book of Compassion". Later the book was translated in Gujarati and Hindi languages. You can download the soft copy (pdf or docx format) of any of these books from the following links of the Jain eLibrary website (). Sr Num 000221 - JES 921 Book of Compassion Reverence for All Life Sr Num 000223 - JES 922 Szeulo al 24122Hi Sul Sr Num 000225 - JES 923 Raul #aa_haus # BHT List of Articles compiled in "The Book of Compassion" 01 - My Visit to A Dairy Farm 02 -Dairy Cows - Life, Usage, and Sufferings 03 - Recycling of Slaughterhouses Waste
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________________ 04 - Milk - Its Impact on Health, Cruelty, and Pollution 05 - Is Nothing Sacred? - Cruelty towards India's Holy Animals 06 - Vegetarianism - A Compassionate Approach to Life 07 - Varakh (Silver Foil or Leaf) 08 - Facts about Eggs 09 - Story of Silk 10 - Story of Pearls 11 - The Myth about Milk 12 - Alternatives to Animal Abuse Food Alternatives: Clothing Alternatives: Household Goods Alternatives: Medicines, Drugs, Vitamins Alternatives: Sports, Entertainment Alternatives: Animal Based Additives to Avoid 13 - What Our Readers say about - "My Visit to A Dairy Farm" article Your Comments: For your comments, please click the following my blog link and insert the comment at the end of the article http://jainaedu.blogspot.com/2016/08/fssaiof-india-bans-silver-leaf-chandi.html Pravin K Shah Jaina Education Committee Jain eLibrary in-charge E-mail - jainaedu@gmail.com Aug 10, 2016 Actual News of various Newspaper Links fssai ad Safety and standar Authority of india FSSAI bans silver leaf of animal origin in food items Times of India-Aug 2, 2016 The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has banned the use of any material of animal origin in silver leaf (chandi ka warg), ...
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________________ Food regulator bans use of animal parts in manufacturing silver leaf Hindustan Times-Jul 19, 2016 Food regulator bans use of animal parts in manufacturing silver leaf ... leaf cannot be manufactured using any animal material of animal origin ... Silver leaf made from animal parts banned Times of India-Jul 21, 2016 Following the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) notification, the ... Fine silver foil or silver leaf, is used to decorate sweets and ... any animal material of animal origin at any stage of manufacturing process. FSSAI bans on silver leaf from animals' parts The Siasat Daily-Jul 20, 2016 FSSAI bans on silver leaf from animal parts ... New Delhi: The food regulator of India, FSSAI has banned the use of silver foil with ... silver leaf cannot be manufactured using any animal material of animal origin at any stage.