Episode Details

Edible glitter or disco dust? The name on the jar tells you nothing, and this is the episode about what does. The FDA publishes the list of names these shimmer products are sold under — luster dust, disco dust, twinkle dust, sparkle dust, highlighter, shimmer powder, pearl dust, petal dust — and advises avoiding all of them on food unless the product was specifically manufactured to be edible. Those words describe texture, and they describe it honestly: roughly 5 to 25 microns for the fine metallic sheen, 50 to 500 for the coarse flakes that stay suspended in a glass. What they never describe is whether you can eat it. The only test that works is the label: the word edible, and an ingredient list that companies making edible glitters are required by law to provide. In this episode: - The FDA's own label test, and why "non-toxic" is the phrase to walk away from - What the Rhode Island and Missouri health departments found in 2018 and 2019, and what every one of those products said on the front - Dana's winning round: an ingredient list is a one-way test — it can't clear a jar, but its absence condemns one - Why the decoration-only jar is cheaper, and where the money actually goes - Colour additives are listed food by food with their own ceilings — and why we won't rule on any specific jar from a microphone - The 40-second aisle checklist, and the 3 documents a professional should ask for instead Who should skip it: anyone decorating display pieces nobody eats. Craft glitter is the honest buy there. MONÉGASQUE Iconic Gold drink glitter, 10 g, is on Amazon at $14.99 standard — ingredient list on the jar; check the listing for current pricing. Full transcript on the episode page. New questions answered every week at The Monégasque Table.