Red velvet cake, strawberry ice cream, fruit juices, and pretty much anything else that is dyed red and makes your mouth water all share one common factor: they contain bugs. That’s right — the secret ingredient that turns red-colored foods red is the crushed bodies of the cochineal insect. No, we’re not joking.
The cochineal bug has been used to dye all sorts of things red since our ancient ancestors first discovered the process of dying. According to the Washington Post, the Aztecs reportedly used cochineal bodies to dye their vibrant fabrics, and the process of red dying hasn’t changed much since.
The Post reports that cochineal bodies are still harvested from South American prickly pear plantations. For every 70,000 bugs harvested, one pound of red dye is produced.
Contrary to what you might be thinking, cochineal bugs aren’t beetles, nor are they flies or any kind of insect we’re used to seeing. They’re “scale insects” — insects that attach themselves to plants and suck the sap from them.
Cochineal scales stick themselves to prickly pear cacti, on which they then cover themselves in a protective white wax. The red coloring comes from carminic acid (produced predominantly by female cochineals), which the insects use to repel predator ants.
Okay, hold up, you say. We’ve been eating bugs this entire time? Why hasn’t anyone said anything?
Actually, many have spoken out about the cochineal issue. Cochineals used to be included under the umbrella phrase “natural color” on product labels. It wasn’t until 2009 when the Food and Drug Administration ordered that the dye must be listed separately after a severe allergic reaction to cochineals became more well-known. Now, cochineal-based red dye is often listed as “carmine” on food and beauty products.
Like with beeswax, many vegans speak out about and steer clear of any foods and products made with carmine because of the fact that it’s classified as an animal product.
But what’s the alternative to eating foods and using products made with cochineal insects? Some companies choose to use manmade Red #40, which is entirely bug-free. However, Red #40 contains a “presumably safe” level of benzidene, a human and animal carcinogen that can cause cancer and is linked to hyperactivity in children, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Luckily, more holistic cochineal alternatives like plant-derived Tomat-O-Red (Lycopene), extracted from tomatoes, and Ultra Stable Red (Anthocyanin) are also becoming more common in mainstream food production.
We really do apologize if you’ve experienced a horrific awakening by reading this, but please don’t shoot the messenger. If it’s any consulting, cochineal bugs are absolutely safe to consume, all-natural, and we guarantee almost everyone in the world has eaten them.
