Dirty Trick or Treat! ? Bugs-article on what is in the food that you eat

[Guest guest]

I am disgusted. I knew about the carmine and cocheneal, but I never

knew that companies could hide the dead bugs with the name

" artificial color " !

Now I have to re-think alot of products including some of my favorite

candies

 

 

PS: I was made aware that another favorite candy Hot Tameles had bugs

in it.

I actually wrote " Just Born " the company that uses confectioner's

glaze( another bug ingredient) on Ike and Mike and Hot Tameles, and

I stated that to conceal an ingredient like bugs is an attempt to

fraud. The company responded by saying it was not their intention to

fool the public...Oh sure, on top of it they lie to me...I guess they

think vegetarians are idiots. They had the nerve to send me a bag of

candy that didn't have any animal by product in it...Some off kind of

candy I never bought before.

 

 

 

, Twilight-Mist wrote:

>

> May be of interest to a few...

>

> (Forwarded by Tia, from feral Vegetarrian group)

>

> -------------- Original message --------------

> Vegetarians and Vegans, beware the food coloring additive cochineal

> extract.

>

> What's in My Food?

>

> By Pallavi Gogoi

>

> Few people know that the food coloring listed as cochineal extract

> comes from female beetles. Food activists want to spread the word.

>

> 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.

>

> What Companies Do to Improve the Look & Taste of Your Food

>

> 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.

>

> Carmine may be the least of food activists' worries. It is known to

> cause allergic reactions in just a small percentage of the

> population.

>

> Food producers sometimes add much more dangerous chemical additives

> to make their products look attractive (see BusinessWeek.com,

> 3/27/06,

>

> " Hershey: A Sweeter Bid " ).

>

> 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.

>

> The fresh, farm-raised salmon that shoppers buy also get their

> orange-red hue from eating the chemicals astaxanthin and

> canthaxanthin.

>

> Wild salmon are pink because they eat shrimp-like creatures called

> krill. But to achieve the same pink color, farmed salmon need

> chemicals, which are mixed with their feed. In the past couple of

> years, the European Union significantly reduced the level of such

> dyes that can be fed to salmon because of concerns that the dyes,

at

> high levels, can affect people's eyesight.

>

> Two years ago, in the U.S., Seattle law firm Smith & Lowney filed

> two class actions against grocers Kroger and Safeway in Washington

> and California, contending that they should disclose that their

> salmon are dyed pink. Both lawsuits got thrown out of court.

> However, Knoll Lowney, a partner at the law firm, says that the

> lawsuits raised enough public awareness that many grocers

> voluntarily use " color added " labels to their salmon.

>

> Still, Lowney says that such dyes are totally unnecessary. " 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.

>

> Click here for the slide show.

>

> http://money.aol.com/bw/general/canvas3/_a/whats-in-my-food/

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Bravo! I used to like Hot Tamales too.

 

-Erin

www.zenpawn.com/vegblog

 

ps - By the way, how was the complimentary candy.

 

 

, " cuppa_2u " <cuppa_2u

wrote:

>

> PS: I was made aware that another favorite candy Hot Tameles had

bugs

> in it.

> I actually wrote " Just Born " the company that uses confectioner's

> glaze( another bug ingredient) on Ike and Mike and Hot Tameles,

and

> I stated that to conceal an ingredient like bugs is an attempt to

> fraud. The company responded by saying it was not their intention

to

> fool the public...Oh sure, on top of it they lie to me...I guess

they

> think vegetarians are idiots. They had the nerve to send me a bag

of

> candy that didn't have any animal by product in it...Some off kind

of

> candy I never bought before.

[Guest guest]

I didn't eat it...gave it to my vegetarian neice and

nephew...it " bugged " me that they tried to buy me off haha

 

 

 

, " Erin " <truepatriot

wrote:

>

> Bravo! I used to like Hot Tamales too.

>

> -Erin

> www.zenpawn.com/vegblog

>

> ps - By the way, how was the complimentary candy.

>

>

> , " cuppa_2u " <cuppa_2u@>

> wrote:

> >

> > PS: I was made aware that another favorite candy Hot Tameles had

> bugs

> > in it.

> > I actually wrote " Just Born " the company that uses confectioner's

> > glaze( another bug ingredient) on Ike and Mike and Hot Tameles,

> and

> > I stated that to conceal an ingredient like bugs is an attempt to

> > fraud. The company responded by saying it was not their

intention

> to

> > fool the public...Oh sure, on top of it they lie to me...I guess

> they

> > think vegetarians are idiots. They had the nerve to send me a

bag

> of

> > candy that didn't have any animal by product in it...Some off

kind

> of

> > candy I never bought before.

>