Vark

Vark, Varak, Varakh or Varkh, Varq (Hindi: वर्ख ) is any foil / layer of very pure metal, typically silver, used for garnishing Indian sweets. The silver is edible, though flavorless. Large quantities of ingested elemental silver can cause argyria, but the use of vark is not considered harmful to the body, since the quantities involved in normal use are minuscule. This however is only true as long as the foil contains only high purity silver. One study has found that about 10% of the foils found in the Indian market were made of aluminium. Of the tested foils, 46% of the samples were found to have the desired purity requirement of 99.9% silver, whereas the rest of the 54% were substandard with some even containing toxic cadmium.