Edible paper

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Edible paper on a birthday cake

Edible paper , as the name implies, is a paper that may be consumed without harsh effects on a normal human digestive system. Usually, the paper has no flavor and very little texture.

Edible paper is most commonly used as a cake decoration. The paper is firm enough to be printed on in a standard printer. However, the paper dissolves quickly when brought in contact with moist frosting. The end effect is that the image (usually a photograph) on the paper appears to be printed on the icing.

While the paper is edible, not all printer inks are edible. Any inkjet or bubblejet printer can be used to print, although resolution may be poor. Inkjet or bubblejet printers can be easily converted to a printer that prints edible ink. To do this, the print cartridges have to be disassembled and the sponge that contains ink must be removed. They must be washed and dried, and the print heads must also be washed; washing the print heads is important because the inks that are used in standard printers are often harmful or fatal if swallowed. Finally the print cartridge must be reassembled and filled with edible ink.

Some edible inks are powdered, but if they are easily soluble in water they can also be used as any other edible ink without reducing quality.

The first patent granted utlizing inkjet technology as applied to edible apllications, edible papers and edible films, was granted to Douglas Stewart. [U.S. Patent #6,652,897) was issued on November 25, 2003. Although other patents had been issued to Douglas Stewart using modern inkjet copier technology (U.S. Patents 6,030,134, 6,319,530, 6,582,742, 6,616,958, 7,128,938) prior to this basic patent, this patent remains basic to edible inkjet technology and the printing off freestanding edible substrates.