Keeping right on with the marginally oogy tropes -

[anghara]

-
When you dig into a strawberry Yoplait yogurt, take a moment to
contemplate where the beautiful pink color comes from. Strawberries?
Think again. It comes from crushed bugs. Specifically, from the
female cochineal beetles and their eggs. And it's not just yogurt.
The bugs are also used to give red coloring to Hershey Good & Plenty
candies, Tropicana grapefruit juice, and other common foods.

more at http://money.aol.com/bw/general/canvas3/_a/whats-in-my-food/20060808141909990001

Comments

[markdeniz.livejournal.com]

I'm so so glad I'm a veggie but appalled by how much searching around I have to do to avoid stuff like this...

[eneit.livejournal.com]

*blinks* people didn't know cochineal was made from bugs? Oh my.

[abygael.livejournal.com]

Well it's clearly not poisonous and those foods still taste nice, so does it really matter? Sure there's an ick factor but as many people think artificial (chemically synthesised) colourings are bad they should be consoled that this, at least, is natural.

[anghara.livejournal.com]

Well, no, but I'd feel vaguely icky eating grubs and grasshoppers, too, which ARE eaten by some cultures and thought to be delicious. I realise that eating a tub of strawberry yoghurt is not the same as biting heads off cockraches but my gut reacts the same way to "ingesting insect" on the basic visceral level before my brain kicks in with the details...