evidence: Next, small thin strips of silver are placed between the sheets and the book slipped into a leather pouch (note that the use of leather-an animal product again). Artisans then hammer these bundles continuously for a day to produce extremely thin foils of silver of 3″ x 5″. The leather and ox-gut, being supple, can withstand the intense manual hammering for up to 8 hours a day till such time as the silver is beaten to the desired thickness. When ready, the foil is carefully lifted from between the leaves of ox-gut and placed between sheets of paper to be sold to the sweet makers (mithaiwallas). A booklet of 160 foils weighs approximately 10 grams and costs about Rs. 200 ($5.00). [...] Thus, an average middle class Indian family of four consuming approximately 100 kg of sweets per year for forty years consumes silver foil produced with the gut of 3 cows and one-tenth of a cowhide!