Pink Food Coloring Derived from Bugs

Perhaps you saw a news item last week about pink coloring actually coming from the crushed skeletons of dried bugs. Gross? Absolutely! Illegal? Nope.

As a clinical nutritionist, I stress the importance of eating foods as close to their natural state as possible. And while one may well argue, what’s more, natural than a bug, do understand that these ‘bug parts’ are found in such foods as Starbucks Strawberry Frappuccinos, Dannon and Activia artificially sweetened yogurt, certain alcohols, and candy, to name a few – not exactly healthy food.

The story came out as a result of vegan organizations discovering that drinks such as Frappuccinos that are ‘seemingly’ vegan are actually far from it due to the source of the pink coloring.

Understandably the vegan community was quite upset.

Red Dye #40 Isn’t any Better

Veganism aside, are dried bug skeletons that happen to be known for their pink color better than artificial red dye #40? Probably yes.

Since red dye #40 is made from petrochemicals, it likely creates more health issues than our friendly cochineal bug. However, these bugs are not without their risks. They can apparently increase your risk for asthma, severe allergic reactions, and even anaphylaxis (a life-threatening condition) in some sensitive people. The data on asthma came from the World Health Organization.

My point as a clinical nutritionist is not to bring this up simply as a sensational story, but rather to point out a truism when it comes to feeding yourself and your family. This type of food coloring is not found in healthy food. In fact, healthy food in the main doesn’t include colorings.

Real food is the color that Mother Nature made it and no one is trying to alter it. And that is the moral of this story – stick to food that is altered as little as possible from its natural state.

When you want that occasional ‘treat’, there are some more health-conscious sodas or sweets that do use some coloring, but what they use is a completely natural version made from red beets, paprika, and purple sweet potatoes to achieve a pink or red coloring.

Natural Vegetable Colorings are Safe & Available

When Starbucks was interviewed about their strawberry base, they claimed that moving to the cochineal extract, albeit not vegan, was a way for the company to minimize artificial ingredients.

As mentioned above, the use of beets, purple sweet potatoes, and paprika would easily handle that issue and be vegan to boot. The organization Change.org has a petition encouraging Starbucks to do just that. According to the FDA, the bug dye is safe and food and cosmetic labels must state if cochineal extract is present. It can be found in anything from wine to fruit drinks to ketchup to lipstick and eye shadow. More research revealed it present in such items as sausage, processed poultry products, marinades, bakery products, toppings, desserts, icings, pie fillings, jams, gelatin desserts, juice drinks, sauces, and some cheese.

Stay Away from Foods with Long Lists of Ingredients

I checked on the ingredients of Activia strawberry yogurt and sure enough, it did say “carmine, a red food coloring” in its quite long list of ingredients.

And by the way that’s another hint, once an ingredient label tops about five ingredients, you are probably looking at a food that is quite removed from its natural state and has been over-processed.

Some consumer and food safety advocates applaud the growing number of food manufacturers who use actual food, such as extracts of beets, potatoes, and carrots, to color food and drinks. According to Jeff Cronin, with the Center for Science in the Public Interest,” natural, plant-based food dyes are abundant”.

By Law it’s on the Label, You Just Need to Know what to Look For

As of January 5, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration passed a regulation requiring all foods and cosmetics to declare the presence of cochineal extract on their ingredient labels. The same cochineal bugs have been used for thousands of years to color fabrics. It is known as ‘carmine’ or ‘crimson lake’.

I think if it was relegated solely to dying fabrics we’d all be happier. But when it comes to eating bug skeletons, particularly unknowingly, that is when we can understandably get upset. I believe we can use the presence of ‘carmine’ as a litmus test of sorts. If it’s on the list of ingredients, we can safely say the food could likely be much healthier.

Labels listing ingredients can be long and confusing. Once again, let the length be a red flag that a food is highly processed and best to stay away from it. Additionally, knowing the meaning of what you read on the label, can also assist you in making the healthiest choices for yourself and your family.

You Truly ARE What you Eat

The most common remark we hear at the clinic from newer patients is that they cannot believe the power of food to affect how they feel. While for us in the clinical nutrition department that is a basic concept, we don’t live in a culture that educates us in this fact – far from it.

Last month was ‘pink slime’ from MacDonald’s and this month it’s ‘pink bugs’ from Starbucks. We need to realize that the fast food, instant gratification food culture that we live in is going to continue to reveal its ‘dark side’. Such stories aren’t going to end.

We need to stop partaking of these ‘non-foods’ or ‘franken-foods’. ‘You are what you eat’ is very, very true – more so than most Americans appreciate.

Patients here at Root Cause Medical Clinic discover that quickly, but in order to really make an impact on the health of all of the US, we need to have this data more broadly understood. Please help me to share this information with others. Knowledge is power and there’s nothing better than having a body that truly works as it was designed.

My greatest joy as a clinical nutritionist is watching my patients get restored to a level of health they had forgotten was possible. If your health is not the way you want it to be, please contact us for free health analysis. We are here to help and would be happy to assist you. Our destination clinic treats patients from across the country and internationally.