I don’t have to tell you what gold is. You’ve no doubt seen pictures of gold bars and coins, and there’s a good chance that right now you have jewelry made from the precious metal on your body. But what about putting gold inside your body, as in eating it? Well, you can, and people have been doing so for thousands of years.
Why in the world would anyone eat gold? Is it even safe, and what does gold taste like? Let’s dig into all things edible gold.
What Is Edible Gold?
Edible gold is literally gold that you can eat. And yes, it is real gold. But it’s not like you’re taking a bite out of a gold coin or gnawing into a bar made of the stuff.
Edible gold is extremely thin. Like microns thick, or as thin as a hair. Edible gold is sold in several forms, such as sheets known as gold leaf, as well as flakes, crumbs, and dust.
And yes, it’s like the gold used in jewelry, but arguably even purer. Gold must be 23 to 24 karats to be considered edible.
Why Would You Eat Gold?
Gold is used in recipes for much the same reason it’s worn as jewelry, and it’s all about the bling. It’s all about the looks, the luxuriousness, and the opulence of having literally gold-plated, gold-crusted, or gold-infused food.
And this isn’t exactly a new trend, despite what you might see on Instagram or TikTok. You might call ancient Egyptians the original influencers, because they were putting gold on food and eating it 5,000 years ago. But that was a few years before the original iPhone came out, and thus they didn’t put it on social media like we do today.
Other peoples thought it had medicinal and purification properties
Is Edible Gold Safe To Eat?
Yes. Edible gold – and edible silver for that matter, because that’s also a thing – is inert. That means it basically passes through the body without being absorbed. Here’s where I could make a comment that after eating gold you’ll literally be flushing money down the drain, but I won’t linger on that point. You can think about it later.
Here’s what registered dietitian Alexandra Oppenheimer said in an interview with Food & Wine magazine: “Edible gold must be 23-24 carats It’s not the same gold you find in your jewelry, which may have other metals and can be toxic and dangerous if consumed.”
Another dietician, Cynthis Sass, told the publication: “Most likely edible gold won’t be absorbed from the digestive system into the bloodstream, and therefore it will pass through the body and eliminated as waste.”
Also keep in mind: You might already have gold in you, specifically in your teeth. Gold fillings have been used for a long time because of the pureness and non-toxicity of gold.
So yes, in small quantities it seems gold is safe to eat. And in reality, few could afford to eat a lot of this stuff, because your next question might be:
How Much Does Edible Gold Cost?
At the time of this post, the price of gold is still near a record high, of about $4,521 per ounce.
For 10 of the extremely thin sheets of gold I used in the video accompanying this post, I paid over $50.
Thus, it should be no surprise that edible gold is among the most expensive ingredients out there.
Where Do You Buy Edible Gold?
You can buy edible gold the same place you can buy everything else these days: online. I purchased these gold leaf sheets on Amazon, and I know online restaurant supply stores also sell it.
You’ll have a harder time finding it at retail stores, unless you live near a very well-stocked cake decorating place.
And here’s a word of caution: I thought I might have luck finding edible gold at a well-known arts and crafts store, and I thought I found it in the pastry decorating aisle until I looked closer at the bottle. What appeared at first to be gold flake is actually just well, whatever hydroxypropyl methylcellulose is. I can tell you what it isn’t and that’s gold, periodic table element AU. Other products were made of sugar and food coloring. This is culinary fool’s gold.
So if you truly want edible gold, be sure to read the label and buy from a legitimate source.
How Do You Cook With Gold?
Well, other like other ingredients, you don’t cook gold, or even cook with it, per se. Edible gold is used for decoration, for garnish, for that pizzazz. Depending on the type of edible gold you’re working with, foods can be wrapped in it, sprinkled with it, or even infused with it.
It can literally make any food glisten.
From a humble grilled cheese sandwich crusted in Parmesan cheese and gold to golden brownies to even drinks like cocktails or mocktails with floating gold, this precious metal is highly adaptable.
And warning: It can also be a pain to work with.
Edible gold is so thin that even breathing on the stuff can flow it away or disrupt your creation. It’s hard to even use tweezers with this stuff because traditional metal tweezers might introduce static electricity. So if you’re shelling out for edible gold, spend a few more bucks at get wooden tweezers to work with the stuff.
What Does Gold Taste Like?
Now after all that, let’s address one other big question you probably have: What does edible gold taste like. And the answer is: not much.
Gold might not be colorless, but it’s tasteless and odorless. So you definitely aren’t paying for flavor here. Again, edible gold is all about the bling. It’s mean to add an essence of opulence to food or drink, but little else.