Are you looking for the latest food fad to jazz up your next party or impress your friends?  

Look no further than TikTok, the social media platform that has brought us thousands of unusual diets and recipes, such as chili oil eggs, Flamin’ hot Cheetos salad and Nature’s cereal, where the cereal and milk is replaced with fruit and coconut water. Don’t poo-poo it. Some users claim this new take on cereal relieves constipation.

And now the latest craze – videos of jarred pickles in shimmery glitter-infused brine are popping up. Even Jimmy John's posted its own glitter pickle video.

Nicole O’Neill has seen plenty of food trends during her long career as a dietitian. But glitter pickles, also known as glickles, is a first for the OSF HealthCare dietitian.

“I think it's a little silly, but also it's really fun,” says O’Neill. “People who like pretty things are going to love glitter pickles. They're just going to love them.” 

Edible glitter can be added to anything you like to eat, from decorative treats such as cupcakes and sugar cookies to beverages like champagne or sparkling water. “So, anything you can do to make your food more enjoyable, whether it's visually or the taste and flavor and the texture, because texture is a big thing too,” O’Neill adds. “That goes a long way toward making food more fun. Because food should be fun.” 

Making glitter pickles is simple. Take a jar of your favorite (it could be dill, bread-and-butter flavors, gherkins) and add a tablespoon of edible glitter to the container. Close the lid and shake well.

O’Neill says to make sure you leave the brine in your jar of pickles before pouring in your edible glitter. It’s also better to start with a small amount of glitter and add more later. Edible glitter can be found online, or the baking goods aisle in your favorite grocery store. And the choices are endless – ruby red, champagne red or tourmaline pink.

“You're going for an aesthetic pleasure,” O’Neill explains. “So, if you don't like the color of it, you can add more or less, or if you want to mix and match colors and coordinate with whatever your party is, you can always do that.”

The biggest takeaway is this: know the difference between edible glitter and craft glitter. Regular craft glitter contains plastic and aluminum and other harmful materials, which are obviously unsafe for human consumption. So, unless you’re making glitter dipped gift bags, stick with edible glitter for your pickles.

Pickles have been popular dating back 4,000 years, so adding a fun twist like glitter is no surprise to pickle connoisseurs. O’Neill credits the younger generation of TikTok users for igniting such trends. She compares the current hype to that of charcuterie boards that evolved over time.

“They went from just the regular boring cutting board with some stuff on it, to these massive, wonderful, amazing, artistic things,” she says. “They went to fancy stuff, like the charcuterie Christmas tree, where they put pickles in there, to cheese and the meat, and it's amazing. And now younger kids are putting their handprint on it and making it fancy and special.”

O’Neill isn’t sure how long the glitter pickle fad will last, but it’s a sweet addition to the long list of social media-influenced trends.

“Glitter pickles are just fun,” she says. “There's no nutritional pro or con here. It's just fun. Do what you like, enjoy it.”
 

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