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.

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

"Alan S" > wrote in message
...
> 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.

Two problems that I've heard of. One is that vegans won't eat it. Oddly I
have recently heard of vegans who did not know what it was and were
horrified that they might have eaten something that contained it.

The other problem is that some people might be allergic to it. This would
be the bigger problem, I think.

I just find it very hard to believe that this is new news to anyone. I have
known this since I was a child. Of course I did study food and additives
when I was a child.