Is gold edible?
Now that is a question that may make some people scratch their heads in bewilderment. Why would anyone want to eat gold? It is akin to eating your wedding ring!
However, there is an increasing trend of people ingesting edible gold. From the famous liqueur Goldschlager to the Hollywood-style bling Tokusen Kaisen Jyuni Hitoe Maki from the basement of Shinjuku Isetan in Tokyo, Japan. It seems there is a demand for it.
But it begs the question – is it safe?
Gold is generally nontoxic and unreactive. Hence eating some specks of gold should do no harm as it passes through the digestive system without entering the bloodstream. However, the caveat is that it has to be 23 to 24 Karat gold.
In Singapore, edible gold is given the INS number 175, covered under part 2 of the 5th schedule in the Food Regulations. So we know that gold is edible and allowed in Singapore.
Still, this is not the first time we have put gold in our mouths. Most people would know someone who’s got a gold tooth. Yes, I’m talking about gold dental fillings. Saliva samples of people with gold dental fillings have tested positive for gold, so it can be deduced that they also ingest the metal. This has been around for ages and no one has yet died from gold poisoning that I know of.
After all that is said and done, while eating a meal with some gold specks in it once in a blue moon may do no harm, there has not been enough research on this yet. Better to leave the bling on the ring and eat what we generally know to be edible foods.
