Dactylopius Coccus Costa insect in Your Food

Red coloring in red food is made from insects. Did you know that? More here:

Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus Costa) is a relatively harmless natural red coloring extracted from miniscule scale insects that live on cactus pads. It’s been valued throughout Mesoamerica at least since the 10th century Toltec period. The ancient Aztecs called it nocheztli or grana, explained Jeff Schalau with the Arizona Cooperative Extension in Yavapai County. The traditional methods used to cultivate and harvest the cochineal insects and extract the brilliant crimson ink are still practiced in Mexico.

As she explained, the FDA has investigated the safety of cochineal and, except for rare allergic reactions to the dye (three cases in ten years), found it to be non-toxic. No bug parts actually end up in the extracted dye (carminic acid), either.

Reading the melodramatic Scientific American’s version, on the other hand, readers were warned they are eating the bug juices of dead “cochineal beetles.” Sourcing entirely from a press release from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has been lobbying the FDA to ban it or label foods to say it comes from insects, the article inflated the dangers of potentially life-threatening anaphylactic reactions.