It’s somewhat old news, but I was reminded today about the fuss that occurred about this time last year around Cochineal, a dye that is used in many foods to produce a nice red or pink color. Things came to a head when a number of vegans protested Starbucks for using cochineal dye in their Frappuccino drinks, leading to Starbucks announcing it was dropping the coloring and would no longer use it in any of their products. Why vegans would be overly concerned about a Frappuccino is a mystery in and of itself, but the whole fuss led to a lot of people wondering what cochineal was in the first place.
There’s a nice scientific way to describe it, but the simple answer is that cochineal are female insects that when squished produce a redish dye that is extremely vibrant.
Before you get too obsessed around if you had a pink Frappuccino a year ago, the reality is that you’ve had dried insect goo if you’ve eaten or drank: ice cream, cranberry juice, grapefruit juice, tomato juice, for that matter any kind of red or pink juice or cola, yogurt, red velvet cake, candy, lip balm (ironically Burts Bees lip balm), strawberries or things that have strawberry flavoring… basically anything red. Also, if you’re checking your labels for Organic or Natural Flavoring only… guess what? Bugs are pretty natural.
I’m not outraged or frustrated by the news I’ve eaten ground up insects… I’ve eaten hot dogs in New York so the reality is that I’ve got all kinds of bizarre things floating around my system. Hell, in China I ate bugs outright and moving around, so this isn’t such a big deal. Regardless, the process of producing the cochineal dye seems to regularly horrify people once a year, and we’re in that season again. Vegetarians are frequently bothered by being fed the insect and prefer the more chemically produced dyes instead.
Incidentally, in the past Red Dye #40 has been mistaken from being derived from insects as well; fortunately that redish coloring comes from Coal, and not insects… so… yay?
