Alan S > wrote:
: On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 07:32:50 -0700 (PDT), Robert of St Louis
: > wrote:

: >
: >The creepy side of food coloring
: >By Georgina Gustin
: >ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
: >06/01/2009
: >
: >The pink in your lemonade. The red in your bonbons. The strawberry-
: >colored hue in your ice cream or yogurt.
: >
: >That color, in many cases, comes from the dried body of little critter
: >called a cochineal bug ? and its presence in your food is obscured
: >under the terms "artificial colors" or "color added."
: >
: >But earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration imposed a rule
: >saying that any food or cosmetic containing cochineal, or a related
: >additive called carmine, be labeled as such.
: >
: >The change comes after a decade-long campaign by the Center for
: >Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that
: >pushed the FDA to require the labeling.
: >
: >The group's efforts were spurred by a University of Michigan allergist
: >who found that a patient suffered severe allergic reactions after
: >ingesting the additives. After petitioning the FDA in 1998, the group
: >received several dozen reports from consumers saying they'd also
: >experienced adverse reactions from ingesting the extracts.
: >
: >The watchdog group says it celebrates the decision but believes the
: >FDA should have banned the ingredients altogether.
: >RELATED LINKS
: > Keep up on technical news with our Life & Tech blog
: > Get more science and tech news
: >
: >And, it points out, the new labeling rule doesn't require companies to
: >explicitly say their products contain additives from insects,
: >information that might be valuable to people with dietary restrictions
: >such as vegetarians, Jews and Muslims.
: >
: >The rule takes effect in January 2011.

: Cochineal has been used as a food colouring for centuries. I
: can remember my grand-mother telling me about it when I was
: tiny and that was a loooong time ago.

: A quick search on Google scholar found little evidence of
: harmful effects.

: I think I prefer the idea of cochineal to some of the other
: chemicals used in our processed foods.

: Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.

I understand that you can make shrimp butter by poundign the shells of
cooked shrimp to add to the butter for flavor. Obviously, I don't do this
as shrimp, along with other shell fish is not kosher.

Wendy