FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday,
January 5, 2009
Contact: Jeff Cronin, 202-777-8370, or Stacey Greene, 202-777-8316
Labeling of Bug-Based Food Colorings Will
Help Some Consumers
Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael
F. Jacobson
After a decade-long gestation period, the
Food
and Drug Administration has finally ordered
that food and cosmetics manufacturers that color their products with carmine
and cochineal list them by name in ingredient lists. Until now, these
colorings, extracted from the dried bodies of the
tiny
cochineal bug
, have been hidden
under the terms “artificial colors” or “color added.” Naming
those ingredients on labels will help people who suffered allergic reactions
determine if the colors were the culprits.
That’s useful progress. But, ideally,
FDA
should
have exterminated
these critter-based
colorings altogether. The only way people can determine that
they are sensitive to them is to suffer repeated reactions, including potentially
life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. Also, the
FDA
should have required labels
to
disclose that carmine and cochineal are extracted from insects, which many
consumers—including vegetarians, Jews, and Muslims—would be interested
to know.
CSPI petitioned the
FDA
in 1998
to
require
labeling
after a study by a
University
of Michigan allergy expert
who discovered that carmine was
the cause of an allergic reaction in one of his patients. Subsequently,
CSPI received
adverse-reaction
reports
from several dozen consumers.
Yet carmine and cochineal extract remain in dozens of reddish-colored
foods and beverages, including fruit drinks, ice creams, yogurts, and candies.
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