FAQ

All ingredients in India Tree products are listed on the label. They can also be found on our website, along with nutritional and other information, on the individual products page.

India Tree Decorating Colors are made from concentrated vegetable colorants. They contain no corn syrup or synthetic dyes. For a list of ingredients, please reference the “Ingredients” tab at the bottom of the product’s page.

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India Tree decorative sugars and white baking sugars have been refined using natural charcoal (bone char). It is not an ingredient. Natural charcoal has been used for over 175 years to manufacture sugar and over the past 10 years to filter and decolorize water. During the cane sugar refining process, heavy-density sugar liquor passes across the natural charcoal bed and very specific impurities (colorants and inorganic constituents) are captured within the internal pores of the charcoal. The charcoal does not transfer impurities to the sugar solution. In addition, this natural charcoal product is not soluble in either water or liquid sugar. Hence, we consider natural charcoal to be an inert processing aide.

Confectioner’s glaze is a clear, all-natural coating used to protect the quality and taste of confectionery items. It is used to seal them from air and moisture. It is made from the natural resin gathered by the lac beetle that thrives on various host trees and shrubs in India, and Southeast Asia. The lac beetle converts the sap of the trees into resin. It is very similar to a bee’s production of honey and is called ‘transferred nectar.’ The lac resin is collected, crushed, washed, dried, and made into pure food glaze. The lac beetle is not harmed in any way.

Carnauba wax is a natural wax produced by the leaves of the carnauba palm. Some India Tree products include food-grade carnauba wax in their ingredients. For a list of ingredients, please reference the product information sheet accessible through the individual product page on this website.

India Tree glycerin is derived from palm oil or palm kernel oil.

Dragées are a very old European tradition and have been used in Europe and the United States for years to decorate wedding cakes and other fine pastries. The FDA in its Compliance Policy Guide Section 545.200 Confectionary Decorations (Nutritive and Non-Nutritive) classifies dragées in the following way: “When small silver balls known as ‘silver dragées’ are sold exclusively for decorating cakes and are used under conditions which preclude their consumption as confectionery, they are not considered to be in the category of food or confectionery.”

Because they are not categorized for food or confectionery, the FDA does not want the manufacturer to list the ingredients. However, it may be helpful to know that they are made mostly of sugar. They may also contain small amounts of gum Arabic, wheat flour, artificial coloring, and/or a very thin coating of silver.

The European Union recognizes silver as a legitimate color additive and states that “small amounts of it consumed on special occasions are not harmful.” Silver appears in medicines, cough drops and tooth fillings as well as in our water supply in controlled amounts. It is used to purify city drinking and swimming pool water. It occurs naturally in the soil in which produce is grown, and thus finds its way into the vegetables that we eat.

You may wish to access the FDA ruling cited above on the web. You may also wish to visit the website of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR CAS #7440-22-4) for more information on the effect of small amounts of silver on health.

The India Tree, Inc. production facility works under a strict allergen control program. The ingredient declaration on the package will indicate whether allergens are present in the product as ingredients. Because we source, receive and deliver our products through many different suppliers and shipping contractors, it cannot be guaranteed that cross-contamination could not have occurred at some point in the supply chain.

Some of our chocolate products and our Send in the Clowns Decoratifs contain dairy. For a list of ingredients in any product, please reference the “Ingredient” tab at the bottom of the individual products page on this website.

None of our products contains peanuts or tree nuts as an ingredient, nor do we handle nuts in our plant. Some of our products are manufactured in facilities that process nuts. Because of this, we cannot guarantee that cross-contact with nuts never occurs at some point in the supply chain.

None of our products contains gluten from wheat, barley, rye, oats, or any other crossbred hybrid, with the exception of French Dragées, which contain wheat. Because we source our products from many different suppliers, it is impossible to determine whether any cross-contamination has occurred at some point in the supply chain. We have verified with our suppliers, where necessary, that the gluten-containing grains identified above are not present in any of the ingredients utilized in our manufacturing process.

Almost all India Tree products are Kosher certified by the Chicago Rabbinical Council. Please see their website at www.crcweb.org for a complete listing of Kosher India Tree products. Every Kosher-certified India Tree product bears the appropriate Kosher symbol on its label and its product information sheet, accessible through the individual products page on this website.

Many of our products are verified Non-GMO by the Non-GMO Project. Click these links and search for the keyword “India Tree” for a list of India Tree and India Tree Nature’s Colors non-GMO verified products on the Non-GMO Project website.

Our sugar cubes and our baking sugars from Mauritius–Demerara, Light Muscovado and Dark Muscovado–are Fair Trade Certified by Fair Trade USA.

Many of our products are suitable for a vegan diet. For a list of ingredients, please reference the product information sheet accessible through the individual products page on this website.

India Tree is a wholesaler. We do not sell directly to the public. Please visit the store locator on our website to find stores in your area that carry our product. Please call your local store to determine whether it carries a specific product. Many of our products are available on Amazon.com.

Our liquid decorating colors have a shelf life of 9 months and are clearly marked with a “best by” date. Natural colors will fade at different rates, subject to storage conditions, especially light and temperature.

India Tree Nature’s Colors sugars and sprinkles, chocolate vermicelli, coffee flakes, chocolate flakes, and natural chocolate vermicelli have a shelf life of 2 years. Salt products have a shelf life of 7 years.

All other India Tree products have a shelf life of 3 years. All products are clearly marked with a “best by” date.

Over time our Light and Dark Muscovado Baking Sugars may clump or harden due to their high molasses content. If the sugar hardens, place it in a bowl and cover the bowl with a wet cloth until the sugar softens again.