If you keenly observe Varakh under a microscope don’t be perturbed if you  happen to see traces of blood, stools and saliva of  a cattle or an ox!

Varakh is a silver foil and we have no second questions on this, but to prepare this Varakh important parts of the cattle/ox are used. The process makes use of intestines of cattle or ox that are obtained from the slaughterhouse. This is obtained after killing the cattle/ox for beef and the parts not consumed have other uses. The intestines are pulled out of the animal and handed over to the manufacturers of Varakh. Before handing over the intestines, they are washed in the slaughterhouse to get rid of the blood and other remains on these intestines in the limited facility that is present in the Slaughterhouse. We are not sure how neatly this job is carried out. Intestines are cut into small pieces and then are bound together as pages in a notebook.

A silver piece is placed in the middle of these bound intestines, and the whole thing is placed in a leather bag and sealed. Experts, who know how to make Varakh, pound the bag with wooden sticks, till the entire bag flattens out. The silver piece would be flattened into silver foil. This Silver foil is separated from the intestine pack and will be placed between pieces of paper.

This is Varakh, which reaches the market ready for use. Even staunch vegetarians, who shy away from eggs, unknowingly consume this as a part of sweets, pan and aeronaut. Some unknowingly consume this because of the additional taste that Varakh provides.

Now the question is "Why the intestines of the cattle/ox?  Why not something else?" The reason behind using the intestines of the cattle/ox for preparing the Varakh is because of the elasticity of the intestines. They do not get cut even after a severe pounding. In India, on an average, estimates indicate that 2,75,000 kilos of  "VARAKH" is consumed every year. Can you estimate how many cattle and ox are sacrificed for just the external look on a kaju katri or a sweet dish?