You would think that paying $5 or so for a cup of coffee would get you only the best ingredients. But, some Starbucks customers are upset because they have just learned they may be paying for crushed insects in their Strawberry and Crème Frappuccinos.
Yes, it sounds like a bad episode of “Fear Factor,” but apparently it is true. You may be wondering how bugs could end up in a nice frothy drink like a Frappuccino, but it actually comes from the coloring. The skins and bodies of Peru’s cochineal beetles are crushed to make the food coloring. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of cochineal extract. But in 2009, the agency did pass a law that any foods that use it must have a label that says cochineal extract was used. But, it doesn’t have to explain that cochineal extract is made from bugs.
Now using these beetles as a food dye is nothing new. For years, people have used them to color foods and make makeup. And if you think about it – it is natural. What could be more natural than bugs?
Not only has that, but the practice of gathering these beetles seems to be very green. The bugs are taken off cactus by poor Peruvian families who use their wages to help their families.
While the use of bugs to make an artificial color for a drink might give some the willies, for others, it is more disturbing. Vegas and vegetarians may have wrongly believed that the soy version of the Strawberry and Crème Frappuccino didn’t contain any animal products.
Now, there is an online petition asked Starbucks to stop using the cochineal food coloring.
Starbucks has confirmed that they do use the food coloring for strawberry drinks, mini donuts with pink icing, the birthday cake pop, and red velvet whoopee pie. At first, the company pointed out that cochineal extract is commonly used, natural, and approved by the FDA. But, now it is considering an alternative natural food coloring, although it still points out that the cochineal extract poses no health risks to its customers.