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Category: Dyes
Posted on: January 30, 2008 10:19 PM, by Molecule of the Day
This one always shocks people the first time they hear it. Have you ever seen "carmine" on an ingredients label of some food in the red-purple color family? Yeah, you're eating bugs.
Carminic acid is extracted from the shells of certain insects.
And you're not necessarily safe if it doesn't say "carmine" - it can hide behind that glib reassurance, "natural ingredients" - which the food manufacturer is using in the first place because we started fretting over artificial coloring!
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Comments
Quinones make me much more nervous than the bug thing. Though this one looks pretty water-soluble, probably easily excreted from the body...
Posted by: Vince Noir | January 30, 2008 10:58 PM
I knew this...I did my undergraduate research on carminic acid! I'll have to remind my kids...
Posted by: Michelle | January 30, 2008 11:21 PM
Me too Vince.
Anthraquinones are surprisingly common in plants:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emodin
http://scienceblogs.com/moleculeoftheday/2007/04/alizarin_not_so_mad_for_madder.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purpurin
Posted by: Molecule of the Day | January 31, 2008 12:00 AM
Carminic acid, quinones etc are so friendly compared to
Cr (VI) and nitrates that we drink in some places in Greece
http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=&t=10&m=A20&aa=1
on ecology
Posted by: yannis | January 31, 2008 3:55 AM
If anybody has problem with this noble food coloring because of its insect origins, I suggest he should also avoid all products that are sweetened with the bee vomit.
(And maybe eggs too.)
Posted by: milkshake | January 31, 2008 9:12 AM
Most of the people who would have a problem with carmine's insect origin wouldn't just "maybe" have a problem with eggs; they're "search for micrograms" vegans. Somehow, that group doesn't seem to have any problems with honey.
Posted by: ebohlman | January 31, 2008 8:57 PM
"Somehow, that group doesn't seem to have any problems with honey."
That's not true. The vegans I've known have been very aware of honey's origins, and they don't eat it. Stevia has been the trendy vegan sweetener for most of this decade.
What vegans don't seem to be aware of, is that their food is there because the same bees also pollinate crops.
Pass the Bac-o-bits please?
Posted by: Jonathan Quimbly | January 9, 2009 3:06 AM