In 1492, Christopher Columbus first voyaged to the “New World”. After that, the world has been completed changed forever.
Since then, there were uncountable voyages in between the new world and the old world. All kind of materials were traded all over the world. In the Age of Discovery, there was a type of goods that pirate didn’t know what to do with, and tossed them all into the sea: Cochineal.
What is cochineal?
Cochineal is a scale insect origin from South America. A sessile parasite lives on Opuntia or commonly known as Prickly Pear feeding on the plant moisture and nutrient.
Yes, that sounds gross enough. Before you toss them away like pirates did, let’s talk about the uses and that makes more sense to you. It is used to make carmine, or natural red 4, or E120, a dark red dye used in almost everywhere.
Historically, cochineal dye was used in fabric coloring. In general, cochineal dye is more successful in protein based animal fibers like wool or silk. Today, it is even used for cosmetic dye like lip sticks. Last but not the least, food coloring.
You think you are not eating any bug? Think again. Food contains cochineal dye include frozen meat, sausages, fish (artificial crab meat), yogurt, ice cream, dairy based drinks, soft drink, fruit drink, candy, syrups, jam, cookies and even chewing gum. These are just a fraction of examples of food using cochineal dye.
At a point there were advocacy for not using cochineal because of the animal ingredient. Starbucks has since stopped using cochineal dye in their drinks. However, while manufacturers were then replacing it with even worse synthetic red dyes that carry far greater health risk. People are more willing to accept this natural ingredient.
When you eat anything red from now, will you think of Christopher Columbus for a second?
