Freaked out by the idea of tiny legs, arms and wings in your food? Just remember to stop when you see red.Many pink- and red-colored food, makeup and household products are tinted with the dyes carmine and cochineal. These natural hues come from the dried, dessicated bodies of the female cochineal bug. (Which is not, unfortunately, a naturally pink animal.)
The FDA, which regulates the amount of biological material in food products, recently moved to get companies to disclose the use of bug-based dyes in foods. But, as the New York Times story points out, regulators have no particularly strong feelings about alerting the public to the origins of the dye, which can be found in pink products by Tropicana, Dannon and Yoplait, among many others.
The lack of warning has doctors concerned because some people are allergic to bug parts. Believe it or not, they aren't bugged by the ick factor, as the FDA already allows for a certain portion of insect parts in your food -- for instance, a 24 oz. jar of tomato sauce is legally allowed to contain around 35 fly eggs).
The Times also pointed out that people who abstain from eating animals for personal or religious reasons might want to be informed that their fruit punch is filled with crushed critters. In the meantime, we'll take our Otter Pops in blue raspberry.
















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Friday 09 January
By Kali
i abstain from eating animals for personal reasons. i am absolutely disgusted by this article!!! why is ok that a certain amount of bug parts are legally allowed to be in foods?! even if i did eat meat, i wouldn't choose to eat BUGS!!! who can i write to about this?
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Friday 09 January
By Samantha
i think,,,,,,,,,,,,,I am going to be sick
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Friday 09 January
By CRaz
The thing about this article is, it isn't news. We've been making red food dye (RED 40, one of the most common food dyes out there...) out of beetle parts since the days of the first settlers. I mean, it's not as if you haven't been eating these things your whole life. It hasn't killed anyone that we know of. Americans just have more squeamishness about insects than most other countries do.
That, and a few beetles are better than hundreds of horses and cows dying for meat, gelatin, glue, and all the other wonderful things that are made from animal parts...Just a thought.
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Friday 09 January
By manolte
I think it is absoultely absurd that the government permits "things" to be put in our food without our knowledge. Us not knowing about it does not make it right. We are not other countries. We are the USA were our rights have been put into place for over 200 years. If other countries choose to eat bugs...so be it. That is their culture and I can respect that. I trust NOTHING any more...least of all what our government(ie FDA) chooses to tell us. It is usually about the almighty dollar...sad.
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Wednesday 14 January
By Mark
We should assume responsibility for knowing what we put in our own body - not blaming the government for - especially for what is essentially a practice of the food industry. It's not like the government hatched a scheme to add bug parts to your drink.
The fact is you probably eat and drink more bugs accidentally then you will ever consume in some pink drink.
So, man up, take responsibility for what you eat and drink, and if you're worried about it - focus on the corn syrup and saturated fats, the bugs are probably the healthiest part of the product.
Tuesday 13 January
By Sally G
Craz is right; this isn't news. Purple and red were considered royal colors in the middle ages because they were made with logwood and the cochineal beetle, both from exotic tropical areas. I took a class. American Heritage Skills, in which we worked with natural dyes (mostly onion skins, which make oranges and rusts, depending on the onions), and were shown small samples of logwood and a few cochineal beetles. Of course, in those days, they were much too valuable to consider putting in food.
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Wednesday 14 January
By Bugging Out
Grossed out by eating bug parts? Well, then, you'd better not eat any more honey. Does the idea of having bug parts all over your back bother you? In that case, you'd better not wear any silk shirts. How about having your furniture coated with bug parts? Too bad, shellac is made from a bug. I guess certain bugs are okay, and others are not. Is that some new kind of racism?
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