Silver Foils On Sweets - How Healthy They Are

Submitted by Serena Mason on July 6, 2010

Good question. However, before we get to that, we need to understand how these silver foils are made. Thin sheets of silver are hammered between booklets that are made from the intestines of a bull. Once the bull is slaughtered his intestines are quickly removed and sold to foil manufacturers. These intestines are cut into pieces that are put over one another to make a booklet. Silver sheets are put in-between each page and hammered hard until the metal turns into thin sheets.

Care has to be taken to ensure that old intestines are not used. Intestines that are even one day old are of no use as they stiffen after a while.

So this brings us back to our question: Are the silver foils used on sweets healthy? I would say no.

The process used in manufacturing this silver foil may leave some mild traces of blood and flesh on the foil. This can be extremely unhygienic and unhealthy.

Further, using silver foil can result in some health issues. If the intestine of an infected animal is used while preparing the silver foil, chances of the disease spreading are there. In fact, staunch vegetarians would probably baulk at the idea of having this silver foil on the sweets they consume. Think about it: if you are vegetarian, would you like the idea of animal saliva, blood, and stools touching the sweets that you eat?

It is very difficult to check the quality of the silver foil used in sweets that are commercially prepared. Moreover, more often than not, people compromise on the quality of these foils and use aluminum instead of silver. Sometimes, contaminants such as copper, lead, and manganese are used as well to save on costs.

Consuming more than a minuscule amount of silver can be harmful for humans.

Some of the negative effects of consuming silver include throat and lung lesions, abdominal pain, and infections. Silver is a bio-accumulative metal and you will be unable to know how much silver your body can handle. Our body fat or nervous system play host to the silver we consume for life, and if consumed from childhood, this silver can build up to potentially toxic levels.

It is definitely a difficult task imagining some exotic sweets without any silver foil on it. But it would be best to avoid eating silver foil covered sweets no matter how appealing and appetizing they may look.