Guest guest Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 This bug in the food chain is a never ending quest! There are innumerable living organisms invisible to the naked eye. Most of the food we eat contain microorganisms. - "Hari Sauri (das) ACBSP" <Hari.Sauri.ACBSP (AT) pamho (DOT) net> "Free Forum (Announcements)" <Free.Forum (AT) pamho (DOT) net>; "Prabhupada Disciples" <Prabhupada.Disciples (AT) pamho (DOT) net> Saturday, January 28, 2006 4:49 PM So you like strawberry ice cream? > FDA: You're eating crushed bug juice > Cochineal extract, carmine should be listed on labels, officials say > > Friday, January 27, 2006; Posted: 9:14 p.m. EST (02:14 GMT) > > Food and Drug Administration (FDA) > WASHINGTON (AP) -- That ice cream you're eating or the lipstick you're > wearing just might contain extract from crushed bugs. On purpose. > > And the government thinks you should know. > > The Food and Drug Administration proposed Friday requiring food and > cosmetic > labels to list cochineal extract or carmine if a product's ingredients > include either of the two red colorings that have been extracted from the > ground bodies of an insect known since the time of the Aztecs. > > Release of the proposed rule came after the FDA received 35 reports of > hypersensitivity to the colorings, the agency said. A 1998 petition by the > Center for Science in the Public Interest asked that the FDA take action. > > The widespread use of the dyes in everything from yogurt to lipstick > hasn't > exactly been well-disclosed: The ingredients typically are listed as > "color > added" or "E120," the FDA said. > > Carmine puts the red in ice cream, strawberry milk, fake crab and lobster, > fruit cocktail cherries, port wine cheese, lumpfish eggs and liqueurs like > Campari, according to the FDA. Carmine is also used in lipstick, makeup > base, eye shadow, eyeliners, nail polishes and baby products, the agency > said. Meanwhile, cochineal extract shows up in fruit drinks, candy, yogurt > and some processed foods. > > That can upset vegetarians, Jews trying to keep kosher and anyone who > might > blanch at learning their blush is made from bugs. > > Not that the stuff hasn't been around long: Indians living in > pre-Columbian > Mexico were the first to recognize a cactus-sucking insect called the > Dactylopius coccus costa was a good source of dye. > > Now, like then, cochineal extract is made from the dried and ground female > bodies of the insect. Carminic acid gives that extract its dark > purplish-red > color. That acid is used in turn to make carmine. > > The FDA ruled out banning the use of the colorings since it found no > evidence of a "significant hazard" to the general population. It also > declined to require that labels disclose the colorings are made from > insects, as the Center for Science in the Public Interest had asked. > > "Why not use a word that people can understand?" said center executive > director Michael F. Jacobson. "Sending people scurrying to the dictionary > or > to Google to figure out what 'carmine' or 'cochineal' means is just plain > sneaky. Call these colorings what they are: insect-based." > > The FDA said comments on the proposed rule are due April 27. The FDA plans > to tackle the labeling of prescription drugs that include the colorings in > a > separate rule. > > Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 > This bug in the food chain is a never ending quest! > There are innumerable living organisms invisible to the naked eye. Most of > the food we eat contain microorganisms. Whatever we eat incurs karma because its not possible to avoid killing something. For that we get karma, unless we offer everything to Krsna. Even when we offer things to Krsna, we only offer that which He says He will accept. I don't think crushed insects is on the list. Your humble servant, Hari-sauri dasa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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