Wow! I Won't Be Buying Any More Decorating Stuff From Chinese Sellers On Ebay
Decorating By NYAcupcake Updated 12 Oct 2013 , 3:17pm by NYAcupcake
When you look for cool decorating stuff on eBay chances are you'll find a LOT of it sold through sellers in China. I once took the plunge and bought a set of 25 super unique icing tips for like $7.....they arrived and worked great. So when I saw a "silicone food-safe pearl fondant mold" sold on eBay from China, I said, what the heck! I'll take it!
Well. Never EVER again.
I got the mold. It STUNK to high heaven of THE most toxic chemical I have ever smelled. Almost like a superglue smell. I literally almost passed out after I took a good long whiff .... a whiff I took because I was in such a state of disbelief that what I was smelling was a 'food-safe silicone'. It should not have smelled...let alone reeked!
I tossed it in the garbage (didn't even want it in my house, let alone near my food), and went to contact them on eBay to get a refund and let them know how vile the mold smelled. Well, eBay had removed the auction for that item! I still was able to open a case (which I did more so to let them know how gross their mold was). I got a refund immediately, and then wrote back explaining how sorry they were for the slow shipping and how they are not responsible for overseas shipping times.
HUH??? Who said ANYTHING about the shipping times? They totally dodged the issue.
I shudder to think of how many non-food-grade decorating items people like that sell on eBay. :(
Glad to hear Ebay removed the item. So true about having to be careful, there is definitely a lack of regulation. I must say, though, I bought some fondant plungers that work well and hopefully are not toxic...so far I have not been poisoned. 
There have been many forums about copyright issues on here, and when you look for knockoff handbags on the internet they are plentiful from China. Again, lack of regulation...not to mention how cheap the product is.
Exactly right about lack of regulation. All I kept thinking of is someone using that mold and then putting those pearls on a cake 
I wonder what the real reason was the eBay removed it...but I am also so glad they did. Now to find an odor-free pearl mold :)
Never ever? Just because one Chinese seller didn't work out doesn't mean others wouldn't. A good bit of the stuff that comes from suppliers like CK comes from China, anyway. And they don't always check it out before sending it on the customer. CK sent me six cases of bad tylose.
MOST of the stuff that you purchase from your regular cake decorating supplier ..... WILL be made in China !!
Can guarantee it
Quite often 'plastic' of any type will have a smell - even damn Tupperware - have you never smelt the deli meat out of a Tupperware container!
GOOD & bad in all manufacturing !!
Just an FYI to everyone - getting "poisoned" from these types of products is rarely immediate. We may get sick from a build-up of toxins, or we may get sick but not be able to identify the origin of our poor health.
As an off-shoot to this discussion, an article about the difference between edible and non-toxic:
"For years, cake glitter has been sold in pots labelled either ‘edible’ or ‘non-toxic’. Edible glitter is made from starch-based food products that can be digested by the body. Non-toxic glitter is manufactured from plastic and is not digestible." From Storm in a Cupcake
My post was to merely highlight that just because something comes out of China that it should not be seen as 'something to be feared'
Of course I know most decorating stuff is made in China...but when you buy from a company that can actually stand behind their products (i.e. CK, whom I have an account with), at least they will be TRYING to do the right thing instead of dodge the issue completely.
Plastic will have a smell... I know that.
Silicone, however, should NOT smell like a chemical. In fact, that probably means it was not even silicone.
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