Do you know where all of the ingredients in your cosmetic product come from? Are they plant-based or synthetic? Or worse, derived from animals or insects? Well, here is a tip for you: some cosmetic companies may be trying to sneak particular animal based products past your nose without you even realizing it! How are they doing this you might ask? By listing the ingredient right on the packaging, just under a non-obvious name.
Carmine is a very popular dye that is used on a daily basis in just about everything from cosmetics (lipsticks, eye shadow) to food products (yogurt, juice and candy) to produce varying pink and red shades. But did you know that carmine actually comes from a bug? Yes, a bug!
Carmine is produced from the cochineal insect that is harvested for its signature red hue. The bug is brutally killed by either being placed in boiling water, exposure to sunlight, steam or heat of an oven. Each of these processes creates a different shade depending on the chemicals later used. The bodies are then dried and pulverized to a powder and treated with either ammonia or a sodium carbonate solution to create the carmine lake. It takes around 70,000 insects (all pregnant females) to make just one pound of cochineal dye. That’s a lot of insects for a small amount of product!
While some people may claim carmine is “natural”, that doesn’t mean it is necessarily safe. Carmine can be known to cause severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock, though in rare cases. Also, carmine is not considered a vegan product. Companies who claim they are vegan, yet list on their ingredients “may contain carmine”, are not doing a very good job of upholding their vegan claim. There are other natural ingredients that can be used as a dye, such as beets, grapes, black carrots, and paprika. Their color might not be exactly the same, but hey, it beats using the dried carcasses of bugs!
One January 5th, 2011 a new regulation the FDA passed became effective, requiring companies to list carmine and cochineal on their label. Other names for carmine are Crimson Lake, Natural Red #4, C.I. 75470 or E120. So the next time you see any of these names listed on your cosmetic product, beware of the bugs! After all, isn’t it your right as a consumer to know exactly what is in there?
For more information, please see:
Food Navigator-USA - Black carrot extract alternative to carmine coloring
Natural News - Ground up beetles found in yogurt
Wikipedia - Cochineal
Wikipedia - Carmine
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