Beautiful, But Could There Be A Problem?
Decorating By Mnhreams Updated 12 Apr 2007 , 9:01pm by doescakestoo
I love the way gumpaste flowers look and all of the dusts but my concern is the safety of gum paste flowers especially if non-food items are used to create the look, i.e. flower wire, and the like. I'm sorry if I sound silly but I would be so worried that I kid would try to scarf one done and choke. I really want to learn how to do them because they add great beauty to a cake but I also like making cakes that are absolutely and completely deliciously edible. So would one also have to include in a cake contract, safety precautions when using gumpaste flowers and some of the dusts or has it ever been a problem? Sorry for the silly questions.
I don't think it is silly. I think that if you are doing a children's cake specifically, it might be a good idea to make it all edible, if you are worried about them just diving in.
But if you are doing a cake for an all-adult event or something more formal, you can always let whoever will be serving that such and such part should be taken off before the cake is cut.
I don't think that there is an issue with just the dusts - there are some cautions with some of the colors but I think most are food safe in the small amounts you would be using so you could use those on any cake you'd be making.
Some dusts are made from food coloring, which is absolutely safe. The flower wires are normally wrapped in florist's tape, and I have never heard of anyone getting sick from that. I figure if the tape was toxic, it would kill real flowers, too.
In the UK flower wires are not normally pushed into a cake. Perhaps one of our members from overseas can enlighten us on how they place their flowers on cakes.
Theresa 
When doing flowers with wires or other non edible I make sure that the person cutting the cake knows. As for children...I don't do non edible on cakes for them. They like to try eat everything on cakes.
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