Ew. Gross. Nasty. Disgusting.

[WillParkinson]

I stopped at a gas station the other day and picked up a "100% grapefruit juice" bottle. While at work I started chugging it. It didn't taste very "grape-fruity" so I looked at the ingredients.


Ingredients

Filtered water, grape juice from concentrate, ruby red grapefruit juice from concentrate, apple juice from concentrate, pectin, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), carmine (color), citric acid, natural flavor.

Carmine. "The insects are carefully brushed from the cacti... and placed into bags. The bags are taken to the production plant and there, the insects are then killed by immersion in hot water or by exposure to sunlight, steam or the heat of an oven. It is to be noted that the variance in appearance of commercial cochineal is caused by the different methods used during this process. It takes about 70,000 insects to make one pound (454 gm) of cochineal. The body of one coccineal is said to contain between 18-20% of carminic acid."

I'm beyond disgusted.

[handmade34]

1. Yuck

....I had to look that one up too. Though, I must admit that when I used to ride my CMT 400 without the face shield, I ate my share of bugs!
I do not trust any processed, packaged food anymore. I'll get my grapefruit juice from a real grapefruit, thank you. Your post though, is a reminder that we all need to be very diligent about our food, produce as much as we can ourselves and buy local.... We all should be disgusted by what has passed as food and been sold to us

[yewberry]

2. Made me go and look in the fridge.

*phew*

No beetles.

Sorry about your "juice."

[flvegan]

3. Nasty.

Sad that we have to be THAT diligent in reading our labels on everything. Disgusting.

[WillParkinson]

5. Oh, sorry, I missed an important point...

The "juice" was from Dole.

[soleiri]

4. I would have never thought to look at juice.

Thanks for the reminder.

[WillParkinson]

6. Reply from Dole...Stupid vegan

Will:

We're sorry you're disappointed with the presence of Carmine Coloring (Cochineal Extract) in Dole Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice. Please accept the coupon we've mailed you to try another product; your coupon should arrive in about a week.

We'd like you to know that carmine coloring is among the most stable natural colors and is used by many other companies, including juice and beverage processors. Cochineal insects produce a stable red color which has been extracted and used in the making of carmine for centuries. Humans have consumed this in food products for hundreds of years, a similar idea to humans consuming honey produced by bees.

This natural coloring has been used in a variety of food items such as-- yogurt, fruit cocktail, stripe in port wine cheese, beverages, ice cream, baked goods, confections, fruit fillings and puddings; as well as children's chewable vitamins, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Your feedback is important to us, Will. All of your comments have been shared with our product development and marketing teams for review and we appreciate you sharing your concerns.

Thank you for your business and interest in our products. We hope you'll reconsider and find another Dole product to select and enjoy.

[Critters2]

8. Lots of companies use it in lots of products, so it must be okay!

Can't argue with that logic. :eyes:

[WillParkinson]

10. Lots of people smoke, too....

But that doesn't mean I'm going to be using those products, either.

[Ignis]

7. Yeah, the beetles are almost as nasty as the FISH!

http://supervegan.com/blog/entry.php?id=1245

Blargh.

[demmiblue]

9. No doubt!

I bought that "heart healthy with omega-3" Tropicana the other day. I should have known to look to see if the o-3 was from fish oil or flaxseed oil. Fish and OJ... nasty!