“This final rule responds to reports of severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, to cochineal extract-containing food and carmine-containing food and cosmetics and will allow consumers who are allergic to these color additives to identify and thus avoid products that contain these color additives. “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is revising its requirements for cochineal extract and carmine by requiring their declaration by name on the label of all food and cosmetic products that contain these color additives,” says the FDA in the Federal Register. Old labels say something like “coloring added.” It will, however, list cochineal extract and/or carmine as an ingredient, which are the names of the dyes extracted from the bug. No, your yogurt label will not list “beetle juice” ‘ as an ingredient. Is the bug getting a bad rap? The FDA estimates there are 31 “adverse events” per year linked to the dye. After more than a decade of push and shove, a new labeling rul e from the Food and Drug Administration requires food and cosmetics companies to declare on their labels that the dye is in the products. Turns out, however, that a few people are terribly allergic to the pretty extract of this bug. It fell out of favor as synthetic dyes were developed, but modern worries over artificial additives have made it popular again. They’ve been squished and used as natural dye for hundreds and hundreds of years: In the 15th century, the dye was an important export from Central America. The female cochineal, a tiny parasitic insect that feeds on cacti. It seems wrong on many levels to be freaked out by this, what with it being organic and all, but the lovely red-pink-purple color that brightens many candies, ice creams, juices and cosmetic products comes from … a bug.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |