Images Turning Green Over Time

Hi, Busymom Baking, Congrats on making your first post. I look forward to many more to come!

It looks like your black food coloring is changing color. Some colors and brands are less stable than others. That's why they market no-fade purples and reds, as these two colors are especially prone to fading and changing. Though I can't say that I've seen any non-fade blacks on the market, but I haven't looked. What brand of edible ink cartridge are you using?

I doubt it's the substrate or the corn syrup causing the trouble, as I've used edible papers on both royal icing and fondant, and always use corn syrup to apply them, with no trouble. But I am usually using stamped or pre-printed papers (that I did not print myself).

I am having these printed for me from a local bake shop so I do not know what brand of ink they are using. I thought it had something to do with the butter fat bleeding through the sugar sheet. I am going to reapply the image on top of a thin sheet of fondant and see if that helps. Are you aware of some sugar sheets that are better than others?

Some sugar sheet give me more trouble and bleed while others are terrific.  The brand I like is Lucks.

Busymom Baking posted:

I am having these printed for me from a local bake shop so I do not know what brand of ink they are using. I thought it had something to do with the butter fat bleeding through the sugar sheet. I am going to reapply the image on top of a thin sheet of fondant and see if that helps. Are you aware of some sugar sheets that are better than others?

I don't know - I don't print on sugar sheets often enough but some are very thin and sheer; others are not. I'd go with what @Econlady says on this. I'm not sure about your butter fat theory though, as it doesn't sound like you had the sheets directly up against the cookie and there's no butterfat in royal icing or fondant. I'd be hard-pressed to believe the fat is leaching all the way through the cookie and icing into the paper. More like the paper absorbing the coloring in a strange way, or the coloring fading.

I'd ask the supplier what brand of coloring and paper they use, just out of curiosity. And to compare to Econlady's Lucks suggestion.

I use CMC glue(CMC or tylose and water solution )to stick pictures. I don't know the reason but you can try CMC.

I have this issue all the time - I purchase my prints from a local baking supplier and I'm struggling now because I have an order where color longevity is critical. I've been told it's a reaction to light and 'it's the nature of the beast' but I can't afford to take a chance. Sometimes the printed color fades and bleeds within 24 hours of application. I thought it might be because the RI wasn't completely dry, but I see from reading other posts that this is not usually an issue with icing sheets.

Going to find an alternate source now. Thanks for this advice!