Originally Posted By TiggerPooh1973 OK, if you are squeamish...maybe you shouldn't read this. This was on AOL news this morning. I eat yogurt all the time too. I read the label of my blueberry yogurt this morning and it's "colored with beet juice concentrate". And I think I will make my own frosting from now on! "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. You won't find "crushed bugs" on the list of ingredients for any of these foods, however. Companies have a bit of latitude in describing exactly what they put in our food. Many larger companies, such as General Mills, the manufacturer of Yoplait and Pepsi, the maker of Tropicana, identify the dye in their products as either carmine, or cochineal extract. Still, many companies simply list "artificial color" on their ingredients list without giving any details. Food activists are trying to change disclosure requirements. The Food & Drug Administration has received numerous complaints over the issue and is now in the process of considering a proposal to require color additives like the cochineal extract to be disclosed on the labels of all foods that use them. "Hopefully we'll see something by the end of the year," says Michael Jacobson, executive director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food advocacy group in Washington, D. C. ALLERGIC REACTIONS. Jacobson says that consumers want to know what they're eating. Some are allergic to bug extract; others are vegetarians. "The food product should indicate that it comes from insects so that vegetarians at least can avoid the product," he says. Indeed, who would think that chicken, eggs, and salmon are often artificially enhanced to look more appetizing to consumers? The plump, juicy chicken sitting on the supermarket shelf is likely to have been fed canthaxanthin, a pigment added to chicken feed to enhance poultry's yellow color and make it look palatable. And egg-laying hens are also given a dye along with their feed, making egg yolks vary in color from light yellow all the way to bright orange. IN THE PINK. Farmers can have their pick from a color chart that goes from the numbers 1 to 15, coinciding with colors from yellow to red. The yellow color comes from xanthophyll and carotenoids in the feed absorbed through the intestine, metabolized, and deposited in the egg yolk. In an article published last year, R. Scott Beyer, a poultry specialist from the Kansas State University, recommended different levels of xanthophylls, depending on what color of yolk is desired. He says 23 mg of xanthophyll per pound of feed results in a "medium orange" color. "This is a growing problem because the food companies are using more artificial means to enhance the appearance of the product and make it appear like something that it is not," he says. A walk down the grocery aisle for processed food is an eye opener—the bacon and ham get their red tint from sodium ascorbate, an antioxidant and color stabilizer, and the Betty Crocker icing gets its bright white color not from natural cream and egg whites but from titanium dioxide, a mineral that is also used in house paints. Betty Crocker manufacturer General Mills didn't return phone calls seeking comment."
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Gosh, Which one was it? Paul, George, Ringo or... who's that other one... John.. that right John.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Eh. All food is allowed to (and has) bugs parts in it... even if it's not intentional. It's just the nature of food processing. I don't know what the legal limit is. Consumer Reports used to test fot it, but they don't anymore.
Originally Posted By jdub Yes, I too am more concerned with the critters that are UNINTENTIONALLY allowed to find their way into food products -- although I do think labeling should be clear.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Determine FDAL's for a few common foods (such as hot dogs, flour, noodles, etc., some examples are listed below). Convert these values into pounds per package bought in a grocery store, e. g. per 5 pound bag of flour, 12-ounce can, etc. Are Bugs A Part of Your Diet? Apple butter 5 insects per 100g Berries 4 larvae per 500g OR 10 whole insects per 500g Ground paprika 75 insect fragments per 25g Chocolate 80 microscopic insect fragments per 100g Canned sweet corn 2 3mm-length larvae, cast skins or fragments Cornmeal 1 insect per 50g Canned mushrooms 20 maggots per 100g Peanut butter 60 fragments per 100g (136 per lb) Tomato paste, pizza, and other sauces 30 eggs per 100g OR 2 maggots per 100g Wheat flour 75 insect fragmnets per 50g Source: The Food Defect Action Levels: Current Levels for Natural or Unavoidable Defects for Human Use that Present No Health Hazard. Department of Health & Human Services 1989.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 The average person accidentally eats 430 insects each year of their life.
Originally Posted By LacyBelle <The average person accidentally eats 430 insects each year of their life.> Nice. As I'm now counting again, what's the calorie count for your average bug larvae? ;-)
Originally Posted By Lisann22 "It's estimated that the average human eats one pound (half a kilogram) of insects each year unintentionally," says Lisa Monachelli, director of youth and family programs at New Canaan Nature Center in Connecticut. <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0416_040416_eatingcicadas.html" target="_blank">http://news.nationalgeographic .com/news/2004/04/0416_040416_eatingcicadas.html</a>
Originally Posted By trekkeruss This always reminds me of a trip to China in 1985, when I was visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors archeological site in Xian. Outside the musuem was a marketplace of souvenir peddlers and food stalls. I was hungry so I got this fried bread stick. I noticed black flecks on the crispy crust that at fist I thought was charring, but upon closer inspection the flecks turned out to be little bugs. Oh well... it tasted fine.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 Some countries trap and eat large beetles, it's considered to be refined eating. All I can say to that is EW EW EW EW!!!!
Originally Posted By alexbook <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580080227/" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ ct/1580080227/</a>
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Cool! Stink Bug Pate'! They should serve that pre-show in the lobby of "It's A Bug's Life!"
Originally Posted By Daannzzz ""^^--TDG should be advised not to click on this link."" They are fine with lots of Ketchup on them.
Originally Posted By CrouchingTigger >>I was hungry so I got this fried bread stick. I noticed black flecks on the crispy crust that at fist I thought was charring, but upon closer inspection the flecks turned out to be little bugs. << A coworker of mine was sent to Singapore with another employee and they went to visit a temple. My coworker said that this other guy was always hungry, and this occasion was no exception. Unfortunately, the only place to buy food was this little stand, and all they sold was these big roasted butterflys on a stick... The guy said they didn't taste too bad.
