January 7, 2009
Cochineal Coloring: Is that a bug in your food?
Cochineal insects can be crushed to make red food dye
The Food and Drug Administration has decided that consumers have a right to know when there’s a bug in their food (or lipstick). Well, sort of—under the new rule, ingredient labels on many food, beverage and cosmetic products will soon get more specific than simply “artificial color,” or “color added,” but most people probably still won’t recognize the terms “cochineal extract” and “carmine” for what they are. (I know I didn’t!)
Turns out that both of these forms of red dye are extracted from the dried bodies of Dactylopius coccus, a parasitic insect that lives on cacti. Obviously, vegans, vegetarians and those keeping kosher or halal tend to get a little upset when they learn the true nature of this ingredient, which is common in many brands of juice, yogurt, candy, ice cream and cosmetics.
Beyond the basic “ick” factor of eating bugs, these dyes can cause serious allergic reactions in some people, something that’s been known for at least a decade. So of course it makes sense to list them on labels. But personally, I tend to think ignorance was bliss. After reading this disturbing morsel in the Food and Agriculture Organization’s official description of cochineal extract, I’m finding it hard to swallow my “ruby red” grapefruit juice today: “Commercial products may also contain proteinaceous material derived from the source insect.”
I’ll try to soothe myself with the notion that eating bugs is good for the planet, and certainly more natural than ingesting petroleum-based concoctions like Red No. 40.
What’s your take on this? Do you plan to avoid products that list cochineal extract or carmine on their labels, or is this no big deal?
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Well, the Center for Science in the Public Interest certainly isn’t very good at taxonomy:
http://membracid.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/center-for-science-in-the-public-interest-taxonomy-fail/
Personally, I find cochineal far safer than petroleum/coal based dyes, and it has the added bonus of supporting subsistence agriculture.
I’d be willing to cut the Center for Science in the Public Interest some slack. But surely there can be some record where we can find reliable taxonomy information? In most cases, insects in my food would be frowned upon — but, in this case, I definitely prefer “bug coloring” to some oil-based goo coloring.
Now what do you think?…well it is not a surprize!! If we knew what was in our food and how it was grown and fed before marketing we all would become farmers. Until we take a realistic look at what and where our food comes from to protect the workers and food production in our country and in other countries. It should be a universial protection of our food supplies by not importing from countries not following the rules. We put all sorts of chemicals natural or artificial in our foods. So it can have a good appearance, tast and shelf life required by the consumers. They would not have to put all these things in our foods unless the consumer insisted that it looked palitable. I grow up on a farm where food was fresh. It didn’t always look like what we buy in the stores. Perfectly round, red, and no blemishes. Until we get real with our food supply the big companies will keep giving us perfect looking artificial food. We throw away good food because it is not in exceptable appearance to the consumer eyes. Just take a moment and think…the next time you go shopping, think about why you bought that bright colored wax covered perfectly round apple. I do not agree that companies should dictate to us what is put in our food. But we do need to take some reasponcibility too!
[...] there are bugs in much of our food, especially anything dyed red. Might as well get used to [...]