Cochineal Insects Products: 7 Foods Made With Crushed Bugs

Did you know that there are Cochineal insects products and foods made with crushed bugs? Are the large food companies bugging our food? Today people are consuming a lot of food infused with chemicals in the form of coloring agents and preservatives. We don’t even know the composition of such products. But bugs? Could you gulp them? Other than being featured in ‘Fear Factor’, I don’t see how a person would be willing to eat bugs, though their consumption is indeed more common in some parts of the world. Cochineal extract is a coloring agent which is comprised of about 90% insect-body fragments. The red coloring is derived from the ground body of the female cochineal insect and used to color juices, candies, apple sauce, ice cream, fruit fillings, baked goods, and other processed foods, as well as some cosmetics. It’s not new and has been used as a food coloring option for years.

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 (amongst others that we consume) but many people are allergic to these bugs. Many companies started using these cochineal insect products and made foods with crushed bugs as they found it to be a natural substitute for artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. Though it helped them save on costs, vegan customers are not in favor of such extracts, as they refuse to consume anything animal-related. A petition was signed by many vegan consumers on Change.org demanding more transparency and accuracy in labeling of food products.

The agency did not ban these coloring agents because they caused no harm to the public; however, it proposed companies more clearly label their food items which use it. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, approximately 40,000 cochineal bugs are needed to produce one pound of cochineal extract for carminic acid. Until 2009, cochineal was one of many dyes that fell under the umbrella term “natural color” on ingredients lists.

We list a few cochineal insects products: foods made with crushed bugs below. It will be surprising to learn about the companies, some of which are large and well-known brands, that have been using or have used in the past, cochineal insects products to make their food more attractive (oddly enough). However, some of them, like Starbucks, have discontinued using them on account of consumer protests.

If you’re interesting in further wacky ideas that have proven successful, you may also want to check out our list of 11 Weird but Successful Business Ideas that Somehow Make Money.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Starbucks’ Strawberries and Crème Frappucino were found to be bugged with the cochineal extract in 2012, which made some consumers quite annoyed. The multinational coffee retailer was found using cochineal extract in four food and two beverage products, including its Raspberry Swirl Cake, Birthday Cake Pop, Mini Donut, and Red Velvet Whoopie Pie. However, the company later decided to completely phase out the red bug dye from its menu.

Kellogg Company (NYSE:K)

Next on our list is Kellogg’s – shocked? The company, which is a household name worldwide, was also found using the red bug dye in some of its popular food products, like its colorful Fruit Loops cereal and Fruit Snacks.

Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)

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 (they’re probably not alone on that front)! Tropicana has yet to change the formula for its red grapefruit drink, but some of its other juices are 100% made from fruits and vegetables, like its Farmstand Strawberry Banana flavor, and are colored using natural fruit extracts.

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

General Mills is the owner of the most loved brand in many American houses – Betty Crocker. The fictional character is so popular that some people still think she is a real person. However, the fact that Betty Crocker’s red velvet cake mix contained cochineal extract is a real fact. Ever wondered what lends that red color to the red velvet cake? Well now you know!

Nestle SA (ADR) (OTCMKTS:NSRGY)

You may feel disgusted about chomping down insects, but what about eating them hidden in butter and sugar-filled cookies? The Swiss food company, which recently got entangled in the Indian Maggi saga, was also using the coloring agent derived from insects in popular foods like Nesquik Chocolate Cookie Sandwich (Strawberry) and Nestle Wonka Nerds.

Wrigley

We are all very fond of Skittles, the rainbow-colored chewy candies made by Wrigley. The popularity of the product can be gauged from the fact that over 200 million Skittles candies are produced on a daily basis. Skittles used carmine to color its candies red prior to 2009. It was a complete no-no for vegans, as it also contained gelatin, a protein that is processed from the cartilage of animals as a binder. The company substituted Red 40 for carmine as the red dye.

Danone, which is a leading French multinational company known for its premium dairy products, was found guilty of using the coloring agent made out of bugs in some of its flavored yogurt, including in its strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry flavors. It was misleading to many consumers, who believed the color of the yogurt was derived from the fruit in it.

Disclosure: None