Latest / The Monégasque Table / Is Edible Glitter Vegan? What Mineral Origin Means
Transcript
- Dana: Ask the Table time — this one started at an actual table. My niece went vegan this spring. Last weekend she pointed at the shimmer on her cousin's birthday cupcakes and asked, "wait — can I eat that?" Everyone looked at me. Like I'd know. Margaux: Welcome to The Monégasque Table. Today we answer her on the record: is edible glitter vegan? Dana: I want a real answer — "it's just sparkles" did not land. Margaux: Here's the answer up front. Ours — yes. It's made entirely from minerals, and per our technical data sheet there are no animal derivatives in it — it's listed as suitable for vegans and vegetarians. The category as a whole? You can't assume. Vegan isn't the default in this aisle. Each label has to earn it. Dana: Start with ours. Walk me through why a jar of sparkle has no animals in it. Margaux: Because the sparkle is a rock trick, not a kitchen trick. The whole palette is mica-based pearlescent pigments — a ground mineral — plus iron oxides, titanium dioxide in some shades, and a short list of FD&C food colorants. Our data sheets describe the gold as titanium dioxide and iron oxide layered over the mica — thin mineral films bouncing light off each other. Nothing in there ever had a pulse. Dana: (laughs) That's one way to put it. Okay — the FD&C colorants. Dye feels like where the weird stuff would hide. Margaux: Fair place to look. Those are synthetic dyes — built in a lab, not taken from an animal. So the list, top to bottom, is minerals plus lab-made color. Dana: Then explain your own paperwork. It says "vegan-suitable." Suitable is a lawyer word. Certified is a promise word. If the recipe's that clean, why not just stamp it vegan? Margaux: Because the stamp is a certificate, and we don't have one. Certification means an outside organization audits the product and issues paper. Nobody's issued us that paper, so we won't borrow the word. The data sheet — mineral origin, no animal derivatives — is the exact size of the claim we'll make. Dana: Hold on, though. If a certificate matters enough that you won't say "certified," then the spec sheet is just you, telling me about you. Why should my niece take your word for it? Margaux: She shouldn't take anyone's word — and that's the round you win. A spec sheet is the manufacturer's statement, not an independent audit. So with any brand, ours included: turn the jar around and read the ingredient list. If every line is a mineral or a numbered food dye, nothing animal-derived is hiding in it. And if the jar lists nothing at all, that's the real warning sign — the most common ingredient complaint in this category is sellers listing no ingredients at all. A silent label can't answer a dietary question. Any dietary question. Dana: Part of me wants to say — it's a pinch. The serving in a drink is 0.1 grams. Does an amount that small even count? Margaux: For your niece, it counts. Vegan isn't a dose question — it's an origin question. The answer to "is it vegan" can't be "barely." Dana: Is anyone besides my family actually asking this? Margaux: They are. In a category pulling millions of searches a year, search estimates put "vegan edible glitter" at about 390 searches a month, and Amazon product data shows vegan claims on about 18 products. Sellers know the question is coming. Anyone can type "vegan" into a listing — the ingredient list is the part you can check. Dana: Alright. Who should skip it? Margaux: Two honest skips. If your event needs certified vegan — an auditor's logo, paper on file — we can't hand you that today; buy from someone who can. And if you avoid synthetic dyes, check your shade: some colors use those FD&C colorants; a few are mica-based pigments only, per the spec sheet. The jar tells you which is which. Dana: So the niece gets her cupcake. Margaux: She does. And for her aunt: if the vegan baker at your table wants sparkle with the ingredient list printed on the jar, the MONÉGASQUE 7 gram luster dust — the baking line — is on Amazon at $9.99 a jar. Dana: Next week, a question I've been sitting on since New Year's. Why are glitter drinks suddenly everywhere? Because they are. My whole feed is shimmer. Margaux: It isn't just your feed — the numbers really moved. This show is made with AI-crafted hosts and human-checked facts. See you at the table.