Are dragees banned in Florida??

[SugaredEllipses]

I'm trying to figure out if dragees are legally banned in Florida. The reason I ask is that an online purveyor told me that they are "outlawed", yet my local store does carry them (at $14 a pop which is part of the reason I turned to the internet for a cheaper price) and there are other online stores that seem to sell to Florida. I did a search on the Florida Department of Health and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services websites finding nothing about dragees. Anyone have a definitive answer?

Thanks in advance!

[bushwickgirl]

Illegal or not, it seems to me that dragees have always had a "non-edible" warning label on them. I've certainly seen said label on dragee containers. I remember my Mom telling me that they were for decoration only and not edible, back in the '60s.

[GenevieveCa]

back then it probably had massive amounts of lead in the coating!

[alkapal]

what evidence is there of any such thing?

[alkapal]

california has a ban on them -- i forget the reason. if a local shop in florida is selling them, then they are legal there (i'm presuming this is not some nefarious cooking store). only california as far as i know has this ban. they ban lots of things for very arcane reasons.

[bushwickgirl]

From another thread here, it seems that they're now illegal in California. I hope it's not a trend.

[gardencub]

Have you tried ordering from Beryl's. She has a great online catalog with a huge selection at fairly reasonable prices. I see nothing about them being outlawed in Florida.

[Funwithfood]

Beautiful dragees here! (thanks for the rec)

(Why are they outlawed...is there a pastry police now?)

[chef chicklet]

I just tried to get some here in Northern CA. I must be be behind the times because I too was told they've been outlawed for a couple years now. Like you I wondered too. I was told something about children choking. The thought I had was that they might break teeth and perhaps there was a lawsuit.

[monku]

Acccording to the FDA there are trace amounts of silver (metal) and can be considered toxic at certain levels. FDA has declared them as "non-edible" and must have a warning.

California they can't be sold because of a lawsuit in 2003.
Here's the reason:
http://www.slashfood.com/2005/12/19/s...

Bottom line seems to be they shouldn't be sold as a "food product" but only as an "in-edible decoration".

[chef chicklet]

thanks for that educated answer, I came up with the breaking of teeth because they are so darn hard, and the person at the store said gave me the info about the choking. thanks! interesting.

[alkapal]

i used to love to crunch on those things!

trace silver ain't gonna kill anyone. but let's not keep self-important lawyers and the nanny state from doing their jobs, shall we?

[Funwithfood]

Let's send attys a bottle of dragees for Christmas...and just hope! :)

[gardencub]

I find all kinds of cool things at Beryl's. I can't wait to try some of the chocolate transfer sheets.

[Becca Porter]

It was my belief that they were outlawed, but are not anymore. They do now state on the jars that they are not edible.

I just ordered some from Amazon last month...