Is it illegal to eat gold powder?

On June 29th, 2022, 65438 State Administration of Market Supervision, National Health and Wellness Commission and General Administration of Customs jointly issued "Announcement on Investigating and Dealing with Illegal Acts of Food Containing Gold and Silver Foil Powder according to Law", which clearly stated that according to China's food safety laws and regulations and food safety standards, gold and silver foil powder is not a food additive and cannot be used for food production and operation.

According to the National Standard for Food Safety-Standard for the Use of Food Additives, food additives refer to synthetic or natural substances added to food to improve the quality, color, smell and taste of food and meet the needs of preservation, preservation and processing technology.

At present, there are 23 categories and more than 2,000 varieties of food additives in China, including acidity regulators, anti-caking agents, defoamers, antioxidants, bleaches, bulking agents, colorants, color protectors, enzyme preparations, flavor enhancers, nutritional fortifiers, preservatives, sweeteners, thickeners and spices.

Gold and silver foil powder is not within the range of food additives that can be used in China, but the use of non-food raw materials to produce food, or the addition of chemicals other than food additives and other substances that may endanger human health are explicitly prohibited by the Food Safety Law.