AGood morning CC'ers,

In my quest to be more organised this year, I started going through my bin of gel paste colours and luster dusts and I realised that some had expiration dates and some do not.

For example, the Wilton colours have expiration dates and the Americolor colours do not. Is it that the Americolor colours contain preservatives that make them last longer than the Wilton colours? If so, maybe I should consider throwing out all of my Wilton colours and stock up on Americolor only......

Do the luster/petal dusts have expiration dates as well? Do you toss yours after a certain date? I always thought that these items lasted forever. The strange thing is that, when I buy the dusts from a local supply store, the original packaging does not have an expiration date but the local store puts a sticker with an expiration date onto the jars.

I hope that someone can shed some light on this.

Thanks!

Stacey

Hi there, are they 'best before' or 'use by'?  In the UK, we have both…is there a similar system over there?

'Best before' =  you can still use it after date specified but it may not be at its best (flavour/texture/colour may have deteriorated).

'Use by' = should not be eaten beyond this date.

I have just had a quick look at my lustre dusts and colour gels and all say 'best before' on them so I wouldn't have a problem using them after that date as they have all been stored according to the pack instructions.  To be fair, most of the lustres are BB August 2017 so I have a while to go… HTH x

Hi,

Thanks for your input!

The Wilton colours have an "E" on them which I assume means "expiration".

Based on your comments, I may have to contact the National Standards Institute and find out what their recommendations are......may have something to do with the food labelling.

I'll keep you posted.

Stacey

AI'd be interested to know what they say...I often pick up bits and pieces if I get to travel so would be intrigued.... :-)