Cochineal and carmine (carminic acid)

Cochineal and carmine (carminic acid)

The food colorants cochineal and carmine (carminic acid) are made from red beetles.

Cochineal and carmine are derived from the crushed carcasses of a particular South and Central American female beetle known as Dactylopius coccus. They live and multiply on cactus plants. They eat the red berries and retain the pigment. They are a quarter-inch long and resemble a red engorged dog tick. There are great cactus plantations in different countries for the purpose of producing these bugs. They are gathered, killed, dried and then ground to make dye. The dye has been used for centuries to color cloth. Michelangelo bought it to use in paintings.

Our government has okayed this dye for use in food and other products. Because the dye comes from crushed corpses of insects, it can be labeled as natural. It is easier to sell things with “natural” on the label. The FDA limits the amounts of lead and arsenic that can be left in the bugs and they require pasteurization to kill the Salmonella in them.

Some items that are colored with the ground-up bugs are:

Strawberry milkshakes, Dannon strawberry yogurt, Minute Maid ruby red grapefruit juice,

Tropicana ruby red grapefruit juice, Ocean Spray pink grapefruit juice, other fruit juices and drinks, alcoholic drinks, maraschino cherries, popsicles, gelatins, candies, bakery products and toppings, biscuits, desserts, icings, pie fillings, sauces, sweets, some varieties of cheddar cheeses, shampoos, rouge, lipstick, pencils and other red, pink and purple products.

Some people have had allergic reactions to cochineal that range from hives to life-threatening anaphylactic shock .

Kosher food contains no cochineal because Jewish dietary laws prohibit the inclusion of insects or their parts in food. Cochineal is forbidden to be eaten by Muslims.

The Hyperactive Children’s Support Group recommends that cochineal be eliminated from the diet of hyperactive children.

Be a “label reader”, but remember that many labels are worded so as to keep you from knowing what the ingredients really are. Better yet, prepare your own food so you know what is in it.

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health…3 John:2

Here’s to your health,

Jesslyn

From: jesslynjohnson [mailto:jesslynjohnson@bellsouth.net]
Sent: “3. januar 2006 02:39”

Comments and donations freely accepted at:

Tree of Life^©

c/o General Delivery

Nora [near SE-713 01]

eMail: TreeOfLifeFoods@gmail.com

You are hereby warmly invited to join Tree of Life Chronology Forums^© where the within historical paradigm and more is the focus of an ongoing dialogue.

Please come to Tree of Life Chronology Forums^© and share your valuable points of view such that we may all grow in knowledge and wisdom!

Pearls & Mannah – “I found it!”

Home