Hey Texas, Meet the Red Bug You Had No Idea You Were Eating Regularly

The time has come for you to make the acquaintance of someone, or something, very close to you. See this little red bug? Take a good look, because you're possibly eating it regularly.

And how do we know you're quite possibly eating it? Because of how many food items this little creature helps to dye a pleasing shade of red or pink that, ironically, makes your food look more appealing.

If you need to scream and run away for a little while, I get it. I was just there about an hour ago or so.

The insect is called a Cochineal. According to Smithsonian Magazine, 'Dried cochineal insects can be processed to create several natural dyes such as carmine and cochineal extract. These products get that red hue from carminic acid, a chemical found within the insect.'

There's a good chance that some of those foods we buy at our Texas grocery stores contain cochineal bugs. You could find them in cakes, licorice, jams, canned cherries, and more.

Granted, when you look at that photo, it doesn't necessarily whet your appetite. However, when you compare some of the potential hazards of synthetic dyes out on the market, we may want to reconsider. Especially, when you consider people have been using these 0.2-inch-long, oval-shaped bugs to make natural dyes for hundreds of years, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

For example, check out this drawing below from the 1700s that shows the harvesting of the cochineal bug. It is still harvested similarly today. Bugs are scraped off of prickly pears and are then dried and prepared for use.

If you're not sure whether or not you've ever enjoyed the red-hued remnants of this little red bug, you should know quite a few restaurants and coffee shops have used the natural dye, including Starbucks! However, they recently stopped using it in 2022.

Yum, yum, no? ;)