In the ever-tightening race for soft drinks to win the taste buds of the masses, the competition might soon come from cow urine—in India, at least. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist group, is currently developing a soft drink made from cow urine that will be called "gau jal," which is Sanskrit for "cow water." A flavor for the beverage hasn’t yet been determined, but the head of the Cow Protection Department, which has overseen most of the planning, has assured us that "it won't smell like urine and will be tasty too." Cows are considered holy in India, and their urine is believed by many to have medicinal properties. Some Hindu groups, including RSS, say cow urine can cure illnesses including liver disease, obesity, and cancer, and it is sometimes drunk during religious festivals. The new soft drink will mix cow urine with ayurvedic and medicinal herbs like aloe vera and gooseberry, and is intended to help the Hindu group’s effort to "cleanse India of foreign influence and promote its ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness." Though no release date has been set for the drink, it is currently undergoing laboratory testing and could be ready by the end of the year. Related Content: Disco: Astronaut Taste Test: The Truth about Water from Recycled Urine and Sweat Disco: Scientists Build Fake Burping Cows to Study Methane Emissions
Image: Flickr / Brian Teutsch
