{Sticky} Sweet: Disco Pops & In-Edible Glitter

I received a phone call earlier this month from a previous client wondering if I could make some disco ball cake pops. I knew I would have to do some research as I had recently been reading about glitter used in cake decorating. Apparently most of the glitter from cake decorating shops is actually only for decorating purposes (things like window displays and decorating competitions, where the product is not actually consumed). From what I can gather these glitters haven’t really had anything on the packaging to tell a person that it is not a food product. Recently things have changed and these glitters that are labelled as “non-toxic” have also had explanations added to them on websites etc stating that they are meant for decoration.

The debate is pretty fierce as people are very passionate about things they believe in.

The reason these glitters cannot be called “edible” is because they do not digest in the body. They come out in the same form that they went in (ew, but that’s the truth). There is even suggestion that the glitters are made from plastics. While some people are happy to ingest these glitters in small amounts and have had no side effects, others believe the products need to labelled as in-edible or for decorative purposes only. Some call for them to be removed from cake decorating supply shops completely.

So......I decided that I wouldn’t be happy serving up a cake pop coated in “non-toxic”, but not edible, glitter to my own children & so I would definitely not be happy serving it up to other children. Then the search began for the best looking edible glitter-type product. I ordered three things over the internet – Pearlised Sugar Crystals; Edible Glitter and Silver edible ‘paint’.

The three products I ordered

I was not convinced about the edible glitter when I ordered it as I assumed it was the same product I had purchased some years ago. It was. It looks like fish flakes and not at all like glitter. It even tasted horrid (I would say that it tastes like fish flakes but since I haven’t eaten fish flakes, I can’t be totally sure!).

Definately NOT the fish flakes!!

I was very impressed with the pearlised sugar crystals and the silver paint, however. The paint is good for smaller things and, again, not entirely sure I would eat a cake pop fully coated with it (even though it IS edible). The sugar crystals were the winner and I now can’t wait to buy more in a variety of colours!