AHMEDABAD: Contrary to the perception of Gujarat being a largely vegetarian state, two out of every five persons in Gujarat are non-vegetarians. Data from Sample Registration System (SRS) baseline survey 2014 published by the Registrar General of India reveals that 61.80% population of the state is vegetarian while 39.05% is non-vegetarian.In fact, Gujarat has more people eating non-vegetarian food than in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The SRS survey reveals that 71% population in India is non-vegetarian while 28.85% is vegetarian. Highest number of poultry, meat and fish eaters is in Telangana where 98.7% population is non-vegetarian followed by West Bengal (98.55%), Odisha (97.35%) and Kerala (97%).In Gujarat, almost equal number of men and women with 39.90% men and 38.20% women concede they are nonvegetarians.Gujarat is widely perceived to be a vegetarian state. Global pizza chain Pizza Hut had famously made its Gujarat foray with first vegetarian restaurant in the world, while global restaurant chains like Subway, KFC and McDonalds are not just experimenting with vegetarian food but also offering Jain food.“But reality is that a large chunk of the population in Gujarat, which has the longest 1,600 km coastline, which includes 15% tribal, 7% Dalits, 50% OBS and 12% minorities like Muslims, Christians and Parsis are non-vegetarians,” says sociologist Ghanshyam Shah.“Due to Sankritization or emulation of lifestyle followed by upper castes and certain successful religious movements, number of non-vegetarians may have gone down ,” says sociologist Gaurang Jani.