Some of the foods we all know contain insect-based ingredients! You probably didn’t know it, but the brands don’t hide from it!
Find out which foods contain insects!
Cochineal, a red pigment derived from an insect
Does the name cochineal mean anything to you? Yet many foods contain this ingredient!
The cochineal is an insect used in the food industry to produce natural colorants! For example, carmine red dye is derived from the South American cochineal.
The cochineal is a parasitic insect that feeds on plant sap. They come in many shapes and colors.
This insect is therefore used as a food coloring agent called E120 ! A highly popular colorant: so much so that there are now insect farms to meet the demand!
Brands using cochineal
It’s a highly popular colorant, all right, but by which companies? By companies in several sectors! Not least the candy industry.
The Schokobons brand, for example, uses cochineal. The Ferrero brand does not hide the use of this ingredient from its consumers.
Other candies, such as Haribo’s Tagada, also contain it.
The M&M’s brand also adds cochineal to its famous colored treats! The famous Coca-Cola beverage brand also uses this E120 colorant!
Is cochineal safe for our health?
The danger of this dye lies in the allergy. In fact, it’s not the allergy to the dye that’s the problem, but the allergy to the insect itself that can prove dangerous.
However, don’t panic: other alternatives to this colorant are being studied with a view to replacing it in the near future.
The cochineal is an insect that’s been creeping onto your plate for a long time now!