Are you fan of cochineal insects products and would you ever try food made with crushed bugs? Though the FDA has permitted the usage of a certain amount of these insect contaminants as safe, it can definitely ick you out. It is not unsafe to eat these “processed” foods, but many people are allergic to these bugs.
Fancy some ground up insects in your frappuccino or how about in your child’s strawberry yogurt? If you didn’t know insects might be part of your daily diet you aren’t alone. When was the last time you read the content of the product on the foods you buy on a regular basis? It would be a good thing for you to become a routine because the real composition of the food products you eat can quite surprise you. Specifically, some common ingredients contain utterly unusual ingredients. Did you know that Starbucks’ Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino were found to be bugged with the cochineal extract in 2012, which made some consumers quite annoyed? Pepsico’s subsidiary Tropicana, a leading fruit beverage multinational company, was found bugging its red grapefruit, orange, and other juices. Tropicana’s “100% juice” was found unfit to be consumed by vegans, who don’t exactly care for bug juice in their fruit juice. Almost all desserts painted in natural red color have ingredients of animal origin in them. Did you know that the most beautiful red color is obtained when insects are boiled with sodium carbonate? One of the well-known insects that are used in the food industry and cosmetic industry is cochineal bug. Traditionally, cochineal was used for painting plants. During the colonial period, with the introduction of sheep in Latin America, the use of cochineal increased as it gave the most intense colors and most received on woolen garments rather than clothing made of a pre-Hispanic material, such as cotton, agave fibers, and juice fibers. Once the European market has discovered the qualities of this product, their demand has dramatically increased, and by the beginning of the seventeenth century, it was traded internationally. A natural carmine color is used in food and cosmetics can provide the product unacceptable to vegetarian or vegan consumers; many Muslims consider food containing this supplement banned because the color is obtained from insects, and the Jews also avoid food containing this supplement.
If you want to see more about cochineal insects products and foods made with crushed bugs, check Insider’s Monkey list of Cochineal Insects Products: 7 Foods Made With Crushed Bugs and after reading the article decide would you ever try this kind of food or not.
