Read Labels. There could be bugs in your food!

News to Me!!!

Did you know that there are ground up red coccineal beetles being used right now as a food coloring ingredient in yogurt, ice cream, juice drinks and many other grocery products? The ingredient is called "carmine."

Carmine is literally made from dried, ground-up red beetles, and its coloring (bright red) is used in yogurt, juice drinks, candies, and a long list of other products, including many "natural" products.

The insects are carefully brushed from the cacti... and placed into bags. The bags are taken to the production plant and there, the insects are then killed by immersion in hot water or by exposure to sunlight, steam or the heat of an oven.

The part of the insect that contains the most carmine is the abdomen that houses the fertilized eggs of the coccineal. Once dried, a process begins whereby the abdomens and fertilized eggs are separated from the rest of the anatomical parts. These are then ground into a powder and cooked at temperatures in excess of 212 F (100 C) to extract the maximum amount of color. This cooked solution is filtered and through special processes that cause all carmine particles to precipitate to the bottom of the cooking container. The liquid is removed and the bottom of the container is left with pure carmine."

Of course if we are diligent in reading the labels to ensure our families are getting what is most healthy for their bodies we will often read "natural food coloring" on the labels and think that is good. But upon further investigation we find that "natural" means natural insects. If we knew all the facts would we still choose that product? Most of us would no doubt say no. But does the manufacturers give us that option? No they don't and why not?  Because they know that many consumers would not purchase such a product.

Allergies are often a common side effect of this product. Red dye 40 and carmine is just "beetle juice." 

So buyer beware!  Be educated or be deceived. The choice is yours.