Are petal and metallic dusts really safe?

 See the thread on "Disco Dust."

There are edible glitters that somehow achieve a metallic luster without actual metal particles, but metal filings are definitely not "Good Eats," even in the case of the small handful of metals that are completely bio-inert (e.g., pure gold).

As to "petal dusts," are we talking about ground-up dried flowers? I should think that would depend on (1) whether the flowers are edible to begin with (oleander, Easter lily, and cala lily would definitely fail that test), and (2) whether they were raised in a pesticide-free environment.

I, myself would not eat any cake with metallic looking sprinkles. I know a lot of bakeries use this and have seen this on cakes.  I would not want to eat any cakes with this stuff on it. I have read an article about this stuff being poisonous. I will not take any chances.

Most of our food and other products are now made in China.  We know that China is famous for using lead paint. I am sure this metallic sprinkles are probably made in China.   China could poison all of our food if they wanted to and we would never know what hit us.  When America let our companies move overseas to China and where ever else I think they made a big mistake.  Just my opinion!!!
 

This sums it up pretty well:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2214456/All-glitters-edible-Trading-standards-officers-issue-warning-cake-decorations-fit-human-consumption.html

Petal dust and luster dust are ground up chalk, and disco dust is small bits of plastic.

Not everyone uses this stuff - I use Crystal Colors for my dusts which are FDA approved food colors.  I use platinum dust, which is FDA approved for use on food.  If I need an overall sheen I use airbrush colors, which are obviously approved for use on food.  You can also use edible gold and silver leaf, which is also safe to use on food (but very expensive).  I have used disco and other dusts, but only on bits that I know will not be eaten.

Yes you can paint with them.  There are several different brands, I'd check with the individual manufacturer's website to make sure they are approved for food use and not just a non-toxic paint.

Let us know what they say!

Thanks for checking! I know this whole Disco Dust thing is suddenly a concern... one of my local suppliers even stopped carrying it because they themselves just learned that they're not technically edible. I have a small container of Disco glitter... guess I'll be throwing it away, even though I love the sparkly effect it creates.

Chef Rubber sells silver and gold. For their silver spray, this is the description:  "Pure silver foil, ethanol, butane and propane. Use to add a finishing touch of silver to any dish."

Does the butane and propane refer to how it comes out of the can? It is labeled as Edible...but this sounded weird to me. Any thoughts?

Just because something is FDA approved doesn't mean that it's okay to chug it. I wouldn't worry about this too much in the case of petals and luster dusts because people would be eating such a small amount of it. The larger concern would be inhaling it when you're decorating the cake. I've started noticing that when I dust a lot of flowers I have a cough afterward, so I do everything with dusts outside, and I wear mask when I airbrush things. I've written about "baker's lung" on my blog before, and inhaling particles of flour etc isn't too hot either.

I like the crystal colors too, they're a little more expensive but they go a long way and the colors you get are better.