I've read a few things about certain metallic dusts, luster, shimmer, whatever being considered non-edible although they are non-toxic and certain things outlawed in California.

Now it occured to me that the luster dust I bought recently looked exactly like some shimmer powder makeup I bought at Sephora last time. The ingredients aren't listed since I threw away the packaging but it is all non-toxic.

All makeup is non-toxic and the ingredients in lipstick are all edible since most women end up throughtout the day 'eating' their lipstick.

I'm just wondering about the loose eyeshadow powders that are all glittery and shimmery, if they could be used to decorate a cake if they are non-toxic? Or is this idea too weird?

They may not be "toxic" but they are probably not safe to eat.

I have read in several places that the dusts that are labeled "non-toxic" in the US are labeled edible in the UK and elsewhere. Since people are the same everywhere, it must be a function of the opinions of the governing agencies as to how things are labeled. In India, silver is used to garnish special dishes. In England it is deemed edible for cake decorators, in the US it is labeled non-toxic, and in my state of California you can get sued if you sell silver decorating supplies. Go figure!!!!

In California, it is apparently because one prosecutor decided to make an issue of it and has scared away all the suppliers. I'm not sure it is actually illegal, or just the possibility of getting sued (which is bad enough.....) Other states have legislation pending.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/23/MNGS03SUEM1.DTL

I did hear on the radio recently that at least in the opinion of the person speaking, anything that is labled non-toxic as far as make-up is concerned is probably also safe to eat, but I have no authority that this has been proven. I don't remember who the person was who said it and what were their credentials either. I don't think I'd use eye shadow and such on a cake. But maybe if we could do an ingredient comparison,,,,
I do know Titanium oxide is used in both pearl dust and eye shadow for sparkles.....

Probably more than anyone wanted to know, but I think it is kind of interesting. Just think what could be accomplished if the effort going into banning dragees and other like pursuits went toward solving world hunger....

Getting off my soapbox now

Not more than I wanted to know... I found that all very interesting, as well as totaly crazy. Thanks for the info and the link!

Too sleepy to read the link. I did a search a couple of weeks ago on the components in luster dust. They are non-toxic and they are not food. They are the same metals used to color paint and plastics. Surely not harmful in small doses, but ick! The info stopped me from buying luster dust as I was going to use it on cookies for my dd.

Well, yes, when you put it that way, dusts sound ick. But did you know that carmine is made from bug shells and many/most artificial colors and flavors are petroleum products. No one thinks twice about eating them!

Even honey and lots of jams/jellies are loaded with bug parts. Yummy!

What is carmine? I've never heard of that.

I think the reason that some things in the States, and in some states in particular (such as New York & California) are outlawed or illegal is because so many people here are just too "sue happy". It seems like anyone will sue for just about anything these days...they even act as if they have no responsibility in consequences, even if such required them to use their brain & make a decision that resulted in their injury or loss. If they can find the most minor of flaws or defects in a product, or whatever, they run to a lawyer who will twist and regurgitate it until they convince the judge and/or jury that it's the manufacturers/retailers, etc. fault. We all have to think for ourselves - read ingredients lists, instructions, manuals, etc. and if there's something we don't like or understand then don't eat it or use it. I personally don't think I would eat real silver, on a cake or otherwise, but I seriously doubt that people in the UK have died from it or even gotten sick, unless they eat it every day or something. It's like suing McDonald's if you spill their hot coffee on yourself. Didn't someone actually do that once? Oh well...can you tell this type of subject is a sore spot for me??? lol

yeah I heard that too.....my brither told me that he learned at school that red #40 was made from the carcus of smash beetles....I was totally digusted but he was willing bet on it so we did research and its not that red but another red dyes that does so he was partly right..............i was soo grossed out...

"Carmine is literally made from dried, ground-up red beetles, and its coloring (bright red) is used in yogurt, juice drinks, candies, and a long list of other products, including many "natural" products. "

Here is the site from which this info came, though I first found out years ago when buying juice for my kids. Yuck! Another name for this is cochineal.
http://www.newstarget.com/002043.html

I'm not much jhapp;ier about the petroleum and coal-tar based colors.
Full disclosure: My older son Now age 25) is very sensitive to artificial colors and flavors. We are members of the Feinfold Association and over the years I've gotten a lot of info from their website. For example:
http://www.feingold.org/Bluebook/page-06-7-more.pdf

Until last year when I started decorating cakes, I hadn't used an artificial color or flavor or purchased anything with artificial color or flavor for 17 years. I still cringe when I open those little Americolor bottles, but I haven't been able to find natural colors that work. So far, I've only been able to find natural pastels, and you can taste them. Green is grassy etc. I"m still working on it. I did find a natural green, but it was $164.00 for two ounces......

My son still doesn't eat anything I've used artificial color on. I still don't use artificial flavor.

Anyone who wants more info about this, PM me. I guess I've taken it well off-topic. Sorry.

Well, considering that they tell us bugs, worms, etc., are pure protein, and in some countries considered delicacies and used as food, I guess we shouldn't be too worried! It does sound awful though, I can't stand bugs of any kind!

Also, the dusts and sparkles we would consume are such small amounts, they aren't harmful. The lawsuit theory works for me! I think if you burn yourself on hot coffee, or get fat from too much fast food, it is your own fault! I also think these humongous settlements people get from the tobacco companies are wrong, years ago we didn't know the dangers...now we do and people just keep smoking and suffering and then expect to be paid for it!

Okay, passing the soapbox along...Janice

itsacake: have you tried vegetable dyes? I've only heard of them, never used them or even seen them in a store. I wonder if they're all-natural? I know that when I open any type of coloring I can immediately smell the dye...it always makes me wonder just what's in that stuff!

Has anyone tried the FDA approved dusts on sugarcraft? I was just wondering if they sparkle like luster dust, or if they are just more like powdered food color. They are more expensive, and it doesn't list the amount in the bottle. Just wondering if anyone has used them .

JennT
I have used some all natural dyes made from nasturtiums and beets and such that I got from Whole Foods. They are manufactured by Dancing Deer Baking Company which is a company that sellls natural cookies and such. I know they have no bug parts because they are kosher and vegetarian. (Bugs are considered natural you see) The colors are not very strong, however, so you only get pastels. You can also taste them if you use too much. I had researched other all natural vegetable dyes, but the ones I found were so expensive that I just couldn't see it--as I mentioned above, green was $164.00 for 2 ounces! There were only 5 or 6 colors available. I've resigned myself to the artificial colors, but only use them in icings and fondant and gumpaste and usually mention to people that they are there. I don't feel so bad about the gumpaste because usually it doesn't get eaten, but that isn't always true, no matter how often I tell people it is edible but doens't taste good.

Veejaytx,
I agree with you about people taking responsibility for their own actions. As for the sparkles and dusts, I agree with you to a certain point. Most people won't be affected by sparkles and dusts, and people don't eat decorated cakes every day, so I don't have too much of a problem with them, and I use them. But my son, for example, probably couldn't tolerate many of them even in tiny amounts. Actually the pearl dusts that are just titanium dioxide and mica wouldn't be a problem, but things that contain yellow 5, Red 40, and the more common things in drinks and juices, and prepared foods affect him a lot. Even now in grad school he stays away from them. He is very careful about what he eats.

Peacockplace,
I've used the FDA dusts. They are more like p;owdered colors or petal dusts than luster dusts. They are not shiny or sparkley I was told you can mix them with some pearl dust, but haven't tried that yet. I bought them because some of them are certified kosher and the other dusts the manufacturers won't say what is in them so I can't use them. Unfortunately, the pinks and purples are not yet kosher certified and there is only one kosher red. Probably the others aren't certified because of the carmine thing. Beth at Sugarpaste LLC who is the manufacturer, says they are working on their formulations. The bad news for me is that FDA colors are jsut as bad as non-toxic colors. Yellow 5 and Red 40 and Blue whatever have all those bad effects that the food industry doesn't want to talk about. There are studies now that show that for many children, eliminating artificial colors and flavors and petroleum-based preservatives from their diet makes their ADD and ADHD symptoms go away or become much less. It sure worked for my son. Now that he is older he will tell you it is very worth it to him to avoid those additiives. And it is a lot easier now than it was 18 years ago when we started this!

itsacake:
Have you tried either of these? I haven't yet, but I do vegan cakes, and I decided to research it so see if I could find any substitutes. Might be worth a shot.

http://www.veganessentials.com/catalog/natural-vegan-food-coloring.htm
or
http://www.naturesflavors.com/default.php?cPath=72

I actually was wayyyyy allergic to all artificial colors and flavors when I was younger. If I ate even 3 M&M's or small jelly beans I would break in hives from head to toe.

I don't break out in hives anymore but I'm not fond of eating icing, so I don't consume a lot of 'colors' if I eat cake.

waterfallsoygurl,

Thanks for posting the two URLs. The first is the product I used. OK for pastels, but very liquid and not too much of it already produces a taste. I can send yhou a picture I'm not ready to post yet, if you PM me with your e-mail address.

The second looks interesting, but it is 4 or 5 times as expensive as artificial color and when I clicked on the combination package they offered, I got this disclaimer, which isn't reassuring.

NOTE: Nature's Flavors makes no claims about the suitability of any of these colors for a given purpose. Some colors will impart some flavor on the finished product, and may render unsatisfactory results, others may not hold up well to High-Heat applications. This pack is intended to provide our customers with the most economical way to try all of our colors. All Sales Are Final

I realize most vegans are looking for healthy alternatives, but I also know that most arrificial colors are totally non-animal and so could be called vegan. Carmine, which is "natural", on the other hand, is made of bugs, so wouldn't be vegan.

Please do let me know if you try the Nature's Flavors and I'll let you know if I do.

I'd rather eat the bugs than rust and other metals. I try to use as little dye as possible b/c I used to hear a lot about people with sensitvities to dyes. I haven't heard much about that type of food sensitivity in recent years. I guess people are tolerating the bugs pretty well.

I don't want to eat bugs or metal, but a little rust might be good for you if you were anemic.....LOL . I know they say cooking in cast iron is good because you get traces of iron, but cooking in aluminum is suppposed to be bad cuz you get traces of that. There's always something......

Ok, I got the ingredients for the shimmer makeup by Bare Minerals. It contains Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide.

I found the ingredients to another brand of shimmery eye powder and it contained Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Carmine.

The ferric ferrocyanide stuff was actually an ingredient used in medication and has the side of effect of constipation if consumed in large amounts. I went and checked on some drug/poison website.

Anyhow, it looks like almost the same ingredients are used in cosmetics as are used in the cake dusts. I'm not saying I'd use them because they are not FDA approved for consumption, I'm just saying what I found out.

TickledPink,

I think you are correct about the ingredients being similar. Except for the Sugarpaste LLC Crystal Colors, the dusts aren't approved by the FDA for comsumption in the US anyway, they are just labeled non-toxic. Make-up is supposed to be non-toxic too, or you couldn't use it near eyes and mouths.

Really makes you think.....