Question

Which of the following is used in decorating sweets?
[A] Copper foil
[B] Aluminium foil
[C] Silver foil
[D] All of these.

Answer 1

Hint: The correct answer is a foil of a noble metal. Its atomic number is 47. It is one of the transition metal elements in the periodic table. It is used because it is unreactive and does not cause a toxic reaction in our body.

Complete step by step answer:
We often see sweets topped with a silver coloured foil. This foil is known as ‘vark’ or ‘varak’. It is a super fine foil sheet of pure metals generally silver and gold.
As silver is a malleable metal, it can be pounded into very thin sheets few micrometres thick.
Silver foil is safe to eat because as we know it does not react with other metals thus if we eat it, it will not cause any side reaction causing toxicity thus it is used as a garnish for decorating sweets.
However, the other metals given in the options are also malleable, thus can be pounded into very thin sheets called foil but are not necessarily safe for consumption.
Copper foils are very versatile and are used for various purposes like staining glass. Copper foil tape is commonly used in motors and other electronics.
We often use aluminium foils for storing and wrapping food and also for covering baking surfaces to prevent them from losing moisture while cooking. Although aluminium does not necessarily cause toxicity in our body, it is not used for decorating or garnishing sweets or other items.
As we can see from the above discussion that silver foils are used for decorating sweets.
So, the correct answer is “Option C”.

Note: Silver has two forms ionic and non-ionic. We can eat the non toxic part as it is inactive and is not absorbed by the body thus safe to intake but the ionic version can cause toxic reactions if ingested. Gold is also edible if it's 90% pure. As we know, in jewelleries the gold used is mixed with other metals and can cause toxicity if ingested.