In my own family we have some very, very severe allergies to different foods, and to insect stings. We've had to educate ourselves on what to eat and what not to, but the FDA has not forced companies to accurately label foods and drinks, cosmetics and such sold to us. I will admit that this one insect may not be as serious as the many thousands of chemicals now in our
food chain, but it is one of the most obvious, which is why it is used, for the long lasting red color. It's even in a "health" drink I saw a lady drinking today.

Do some checking on the Internet for yourself!!

What are you talking about?

It's an insect that is ground up and put into food for the coloring.
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Are insects used to make food coloring? - The Boston Globe
Mar 6, 2006 ... Q: A few weeks ago at a party the subject came up about food coloring. I told the guests about the red bugs that are raised to make #40 red.
www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2006/03/... - Similar
snopes.com: Food Color Made From Bugs
Feb 20, 2007 ... Food colorant made of ground bugs? ... The desiccated insects would then be ground to a fine ... Color Additives and Cosmetics ...
www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/bugjuice.asp - Similar
Answers.com - Was red food coloring made from beetles' wings
Was red food colori ng made from beetles' wings? What is red artificial food coloring made of? Is red food color made from insect wings? ...
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Cochineal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The insect produces carminic acid that deters predation by other insects. ... Carmine is today primarily used as a food colouring and for cosmetics. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal - Similar
Carmine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Food industries were aggressively opposed to the idea of writing "insect ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine - 11 hours ago - Similar
[ More results from en.wikipedia.org ]

this information is at least 4 years old. how accurate is it now?

Hasn't changed it's still the same. No new chemical has been found food safe for true red.

Cochineal has been used for centuries (literally) for foods and for dyeing textiles by many cultures. It is still used today by hand spinners to dye wool. This is an animal/insect product and the stuff that I use is natural. While it is important for individuals to monitor their foods for allergy and safety, using an insect product for food coloring actually sounds better to me than some of the frankenstein stuff that modern chemists add to the food chain.
Some other examples of (gross) dye additives include snail slime (roman imperial purple or tyrean red, boiled walnut shells, roots, berries, lichens, seaweeds etc. Natural dyestuffs and colorants can sound pretty nasty- and calling a colorant "insect parts" is specifically worded to play to the yuck factor found among most Americans. Many cultures eat things that I would never consider, insects among them. But.... my favorite 'bug' is a water one- shrimp! Go figure :-)

I have issues with MSG and Aspertame. The law states that the manufactures have to list the foods or "things" they put in their product, but they don't have to list the foods or things in the products that they put in their products. Example: spaghetti sauce will say it has "tomato sauce". If you look at the containers of sauce in the store you'll see some have "broth and tomatoes" and others will have "water and tomatoes". The broth more than likely is bouillon....which contains MSG. But they don't have to list MSG....in fact, they can say their product does not have MSG!!! I even found MSG in my hair conditioner!!!!! The coconut scented kind has MSG -- as a preservative. Frustrating!!!

Sounds so gross!

While it is important for individuals to monitor their foods for allergy and safety, using an insect product for food coloring actually sounds better to me than some of the frankenstein stuff that modern chemists add to the food chain.
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I'll agree with this. Insects don't bother me that much, unless they have been sprayed. Doesn't seem like this is the case here.
Aspartame for one is a dangerous thing, so now they are going to call it "Amino Sweet" for the folks who won't be looking for this till they learn better. High Fructose Corn Syrup is changing its name to simply "Corn Syrup". Doesn't that sound nutritious? Money is king, so we have to monitor our own food intake. Me..I strongly suspect there's something else in diet sodas that isn't on the label and is highly addictive. I can stop drinking it, get my caffeine in tea and coffee, yet still get headaches and want my diet sodas. I'm working on lowering my intake, slowly...very slowly. Also losing weight just as slowly!!!! That sorta surprised me. I think in the mean while I'll change to Sucrose and sodas that have it in them, going today to search them out. I'm told by a chemist I know that Sucrose "mostly" is excreted from the body, unlike Aspartame. I'm going to not think of that "mostly" bit till I've tamed my craving for soda.

Sure would like to find one that has plain old Stevia in it. I heard some soda companies are trying to come up with a good tasting soda with Stevia.

(Wanna gain weight? Drink Diet Sodas!!)

[quote=amandasgramma]I have issues with MSG and Aspertame. The law states that the manufactures have to list the foods or "things" they put in their product, but they don't have to list the foods or things in the products that they put in their products.
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Check this out on the Internet. I was stunned at the list that showed up after just a few moment's search. I now eat very few things that come prepared, things taste better made from scratch. I do eat out once or twice a month, some restaurants have recipes that I don't. I can find a lot of them on "Top Secret Recipes" on the internet, but the smaller ones seem to use real foods. Unfortunately, most of them use massive doses of salt, which makes my ankles and legs swell up, so I don't eat out often.