Consuming Red Food Dye May Mean You're Eating Bugs

It's hard to fathom how many insects we actually eat. I'm sure there are tons in the fields that get plowed into our wheat and other grains on a daily basis. But then there are the bugs that are intentionally put in our food, like the companies which use the female cochineal, described as a "cactus-loving insect," in order to add a reddish color to foods like ice cream, yogurt, juice, tomato sauce, candy, and even cosmetics.

The bugs are harvested in Mexico, and then they're crushed into a fine powder that is then sold to food processing companies as a pigment known as "carmine." The substance appears on labels simply as "color added" or "artificial colors" (although occasionally it's noted as Red 40 or E120).

I'm actually thinking of picking up the phone right now to thank my mom for refusing to let us eat anything that contained either "artificial colors" or "color added," although I don't think she had any idea about the bugs