Episode Details

What color additives are in edible glitter? Two kinds of thing — a mineral pigment for the shimmer, and food dyes for the color. Across the whole MONÉGASQUE line the declared palette runs to seven items and no more: mica-based pearlescent pigments, iron oxide, titanium dioxide, and FD&C Red No. 40, Blue No. 1, Yellow No. 5 and Yellow No. 6. The mica is the sparkle, the flat light-bouncing base everything rides on. Titanium dioxide is the white that makes a powder read bright rather than dull. Iron oxide is the warm one, where gold and bronze come from. The FD&C dyes are the actual color. Some shades carry no dye at all — the manufacturer's spec sheet lists White, Snow White, Iridescent Butterfly, Liquid Gold and Magic Rainbow as mineral pigment only. The FDA's own description of the category is broader, naming sugar, acacia, maltodextrin, cornstarch and food-approved color additives, because some makers build on a sugar or starch base instead. In this episode: - The seven-item declaration, and which item does which job - Which shades carry no added dye at all - Dust versus flakes: same chemistry, different grind - Dana's winning round: an ingredient list is not proof of compliance - What it means when a jar carries no ingredient list at all - The one-sentence answer to give a client who asks Who should skip it: anyone whose jar carries no ingredient list — that jar has already answered the question. The MONÉGASQUE 7 gram luster dust jars are on Amazon at $9.99 standard; check the listing for current pricing. Full transcript on the episode page. New questions answered every week at The Monégasque Table. **Direct answer (top):** Edible glitter is a mineral pigment that makes the shimmer plus, in colored shades, one or more FD&C food dyes. The full declared palette across this line is seven items: mica-based pearlescent pigments, iron oxide, titanium dioxide, and FD&C Red No. 40, Blue No. 1, Yellow No. 5 and Yellow No. 6. Some shades are declared as mineral pigment only. - 00:00 Cold open — the client asked, and the decorator froze - 00:30 The verdict: seven declared items, no eighth thing - 01:10 What the FDA says the category commonly contains - 01:50 Which item is the sparkle and which is the color - 02:40 Dust versus flakes: 5 to 25 microns against 50 to 500 - 03:20 Dana's round: is a list proof? - 04:10 What "non-toxic" with no ingredient list actually means - 04:50 Dana's Scorecard · the sentence for the client · footnote