After a decade of pressure from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the U.S. FDA will require the food industry to disclose a little known fact -- the red food dye called carmine, among other names, is made from the crushed bodies of the cochineal insect. Starting in two years, food manufacturers will have to disclose cochineal-based food additives on their labels.
The FDA created the new rule because some people who have consumed products containing carmine, which range from yogurt to fruit drinks to candy, have developed severe allergic reactions -- some of which have been potentially fatal.
The cochineal insect is a flat, wingless beetle-like bug native to Mexico and South America. It is also used by the cosmetics industry, which uses cochineal coloring in lipstick and other products.