I have been making celebration cakes for people on special diets for as long as I have been making cakes and have spent a lot of time making sure the ingredients are safe to use for individual diets. I constantly check to see if the ingredients have changed or new products come on the market.

As a cake decorator are you are being asked more frequently if you can make cakes for special diets?
Do you get confused with ingredient lists?

I have put together a list of the common icings and sugarcraft ingredients used in the UK and allergy advice on each.

There are hidden ingredients that you may not think about. The main ingredient that causes confusion is Glucose syrup. This ingredient is found in most sugarcraft products.

Glucose can be made from any kind of starch and is used in sugary foods to soften texture and prevent crystallisation of sugars.

Most of the world seems to make glucose syrup from corn and call it corn syrup rather than glucose syrup. In Europe glucose syrup is made with corn and wheat..

If you buy your ingredients from a catering wholesaler there is a good chance the glucose in the product will be made from wheat, – this includes glace cherries and mixed peel.

 To be sure what is in a product ask your supplier for the food specifications. This is a printed sheet which gives a description of a product, packaging info, shelf life, origin, ingredients and their derivatives  and any allergy information.

You may be wondering ‘what is the problem with glucose?

Food labelling rules allow products containing wheat glucose to be sold as ‘gluten free’. The theory is that it should be safe for coeliacs and people with wheat allergies because it is so refined. However, speak to people with intolerances and allergies and you will find plenty of evidence that this is clearly not the case.

Always ask the customer if they know if wheat glucose affects them. To be on the safe side,  I always use ingredients I know are 100 per cent wheat free.

Fortunately, new EU legislation will eventually make things simpler by forcing producers to specify if a product contains wheat glucose. This will take a while to come into practice as manufacturers are permitted to use up their old packaging before redesigning labels – so for the time being at least, err on the side of caution and choose products which are definitely wheat free.

Take a look at the list below for a one-stop guide to popular sugarcraft products and their allergens. If you want to add any brands I’ve missed, please do get in touch.

Updated 2nd September 2011

 Key:
v = vegan / free from all animal products including egg, dairy products, gelatine and honey.
df = dairy / lactose free
nf = nut free
gf = gluten free
wf = wheat free
ef = egg free

Sugarpaste

• Renshaws Regalice -  v, df, nf, gf, ef, contains wheat glucose
• Dr Oetker regalice - v, df, gf, wf, nf, ef
• Pettinice - gf, wf, nf, ef, contains dairy products, suitable for vegetarians, not suitable for vegans
• Covapaste -  v, df,  gf, nf, ef, contains wheat glucose
• Silver spoon ready to roll icing – v, df, gf, wf, ef, now states may contain nuts
• M & B sugarpaste - v, df, nf, gf, ef, contains wheat glucose

Most supermarkets stock silver spoon or Dr Oetker’s ready to roll icing so they are easy to find.

Marzipan – Almond paste

• Dr Oetker – v, gf, wf, df, ef, contains  nuts
• Sainsburys –v, df, gf, ef, glucose derives from wheat or corn, contains nuts
• Tesco -  v, df, gf, ef, glucose derives from wheat or corn, contains nuts
• Asda -v, df, gf, ef, glucose derives from wheat or corn, contains nuts
• Waitrose – v, df, gf, ef, glucose derives from wheat or corn, contains nuts
• Ingram brothers  (available from catering wholesalers) - may contain milk, dairy and cereal containing gluten, contains nuts
• Silver Spoon – v, gf, wf, df, ef, contains nuts
• Squires kitchen  - v, gf, wf, df, ef, contains nuts
• Odense - v, df, ef, contains wheat gluten, contains nuts

Most supermarkets stock silver spoon or Dr Oetker’s marzipan so they are easy to find.

Flower paste

• Squires Kitchen - df, gf, wf, may contain traces of nut – nuts used in same factory, contains egg white
• Sugar city platinum paste - v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Sugar city diamond paste - v , gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Sweet success Pastiche flowerpaste -  gf, df, nf, ef, contains gelatine – not suitable for vegan and vegetarians. Contains wheat glucose

Mexican / modelling paste

• Squires Kitchen Mexican paste – v, df, wf, gf, ef, may contain traces of nut
• Squires Kitchen sugar dough – v, df, wf, gf, may contain traces of nut and egg
• Squires Kitchen Pastillage – df, wf, gf, contains egg, may contain traces of nut
• Sugar City Mexican paste – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Sugar city modelling paste – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Sweet success Pastrima - df, gf, nf, ef, not suitable for vegans or vegetarians, contains wheat glucose

Fondant

• Tate and Lyle - v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Silver spoon – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• MFG available from wholesalers – v, df, nf, ef, contains wheat glucose
• Squires Kitchen fondant icing mix – v, wf, gf, df

Chocolate Paste

• Squires Kitchen dark chocolate Cocoform – gf, wf, ef, may contain traces of nut and dairy
• Squires Kitchen milk chocolate cocoform – gf, wf, ef, may contain traces of nut, contains milk
• Squires Kitchen white chocolate cocoform – gf, wf, ef, may contain traces of nut, contains milk
• Regalice luxury white chocolate sugarpaste - gf, ef, contains milk, contains wheat derived glucose syrup, made in a factory which also handles nuts (marzipan) but made in different areas
• Regalice luxury chocolate sugarpaste – gf, ef, may contain milk, contains wheat derived glucose syrup,  made in a factory which also handles nuts (marzipan) but made in different areas
• Tracey Mann dark chocolate paste - gf, ef, may contain milk, contains wheat derived glucose syrup

Dried egg white

• Meri white – contains wheat, gluten and egg
• Supercooks dried egg white – df, gf, wf, nf, contains egg
• Squires kitchen pure albumin – df, gf, wf, nf, contains egg

Royal Icing Mix

• Tate and Lyle – gf, wf, df, nf, contains egg
• Squires Kitchen – gf, wf, df, nf, contains egg
• Sugar City – gf, wf, df, nf, contains egg

Supermarkets now stock writing icing which does not contain any allergens so handy if you just want to pipe a simple message or decoration or you can use watered down sugarpaste which pipes from a piping tube really well.

Food colouring

• Sugarflair powder colours – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Sugarflair paste colours – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Sugarflair liquid colours – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Squires Kitchen powder colours –  gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Squires Kitchen paste colours –  gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Sugar City crystal colours – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef
• Edable Art powder colours –  gf, wf, df, nf, ef, all vegan except E120 (cochineal). Although most reds seem to be E122 or E124 which are synthetic
• Orchard Products powder colours - gf, wf, ef, contains lactose

Glucose Syrup

• Squires Kitchen – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef, glucose made from corn starch
• Dr Oetker – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef, glucose made from corn starch
• Silver Spoon – v, gf, wf, df, nf, ef, glucose made from corn starch
• Bako commercial supplier – v, df, gf, nf, ef, contains wheat derived glucose