That red stuff you're eating? It's ground-up bugs

Starbucks caused an uproar among vegans and vegetarians this week when it was revealed their strawberry frappes contained the red food colouring cochineal.

Why the fuss? Well, cochineal is made of ground-up bugs — and you've probably been eating it without ever realising.

According to Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, cochineal is used in a variety of sauces, flavoured milks, confectionery, cakes, dips, dairy desserts, ice creams and yoghurts available in Australian supermarkets.

"Cochineal is reported to be one of the few natural and water-soluble colourants that resist degradation with time," a spokesman said.

"It is the most light and heat-stable and oxidation-resistant of all the natural colourants and is even more stable than some synthetic food colours."

It is considered safe to eat (though not for people with an allergy or intolerance) and can be identified on labelling variously as "cochineal extract", "carmine", "crimson lake", "natural red 4", "C.I. 75470", "E120" or "natural colouring".

The cochineal insects — which are native South and Central America and eat cacti — became one of the main sources of red dye from the 15th century but fell out of favour as chemical dyes were invented in the late 19th century.

Now these days more and more foods producers are using cochineal to make their products more "natural".

A Starbucks US spokesperson said the company was using it in its frappes to minimize the artificial ingredients in its products.

"While the strawberry base isn’t a vegan product, it helps us move away from artificial dyes," the spokesperson said.

"Many Starbucks ingredients can be combined to create a beverage free from animal-derived products; however, we are unable to guarantee this due to the potential cross-contamination with other animal-derived products in our retail locations."

However, Vegan Society of NSW president Greg McFarlane said he would rather companies used a synthetic product than one derived from animals.

"The whole idea that something being natural makes it better is a bit spurious," Mr McFarlane said.

"Since we can have red colouring without causing harm to animals we should use that other colouring. It's not something that's necessary for our existence to use cochineal."

Starbucks Australia did not respond to requests for information.

ninemsn.com.au 29 Mar 2012

Why not use strawberries in a "strawberry frappe"?

Of course everything is safe that the multinationals manufacture for the masses.

Take a look a McDonald's and Coca-Cola Amatil products as an example.

Those products are carcinogenic and are responsible for many health related issues if consumed.