2006-02-02

Does this bug you?

The Food and Drug Administration, under duress, is expected to publish a food-labeling proposal that could require companies to let buyers be aware when a food or drink such as yogurt or juice or candy contains beetle-derived colorings like vivid-red "carmine" and bright-orange "cochineal" (pronounced coach-in-EEL).

Currently, under FDA regulations, food labels must identify certain man-made colorings by name, such as FD&C Red No. 40. But carmine, cochineal and other naturally occurring ingredients can fall under the colloquial terms "color added" or "artificial color."

And, just so ya know, cochineal and carmine coloring are from beetles. Kinda small ones like what the gentleman to the right is holding in his palm.

Thusly, products containing the insects aren't kosher. On many levels, some say.

It really doesn't bother me much. You should hear about the bizarre stuff I used to eat when I was a kid.

Actually, you probably shouldn't hear about that.

2 comments:

JD Rhoades said...

I think it's important to know. Sometimes you feel like ingesting insects, and sometimes you don't, y'know?

Jen Jordan said...

I went to gargle with my Citrus Listerine this morning, looked at the label and there it was:

cochineal

I shrugged mid-gargle and kept going. What's a little bug here and there?