Fruit doesn't color strawberry Yoplait yogurt red. It's carmine, natural red dye made from crushed cochineal bugs. People have used it for centuries.
Michael has taken Dannon to task over one issue: If you eat Dannon's "Fruit on the Bottom" strawberry, raspberry, cherry, or boysenberry yogurt, or the strawberry variety of Dannon's Oikos Greek yogurt, you are eating carmine-an extract made from the dried and pulverized dead bodies of the cochineal insect. That dye is also used in two flavours of Dannon's Light and Fit Greek line. A name-brand strawberry yogurt "Colored with Carmine," cochineal insects.
Evidently, the company received a lot of flak from vegan and vegetarian communities for serving bugs in their drinks. Ever taken a close look at the ingredient list of a brightly colored strawberry yogurt, a pink-frosted cupcake, or a ruby-red juice? You might be in for a creepy-crawly surprise! That's because one common food dye, responsible for those vibrant reds and pinks, is secretly made from something unexpected and, for some, quite disgusting. Dannon's strawberry yogurt is colored using an additive made from crushed bugs.
Some are grossed out, but Dannon's use of crushed bugs in its yogurt isn't that bad, and it's. The bright red color in strawberry yogurt comes from cochineal insects, which produce carminic acid, a natural dye used in various products for centuries. If you think it's fruit that colors strawberry Yoplait yogurt red, think again.
It's carmine, a natural red dye derived from crushed cochineal bugs. People have used it for thousands of years. The Hidden Additives in Your Yogurt Bug-Based Dye: A Not-So-Natural Color Dannon's strawberry, cherry, and raspberry yogurts owe their vibrant pink hues to carmine, a red dye made from crushed cochineal insects.
Approximately 40,000 bugs are required to produce one pound of this dye, which has been linked to allergic reactions in some consumers. The pink color of many yogurts doesn't come from strawberries, but from the bugs in it. What gives this strawberry yogurt its pink color? If you thought berries, would you ever be wrong.
It's bugs! Cochineal insects are valued for their vibrant red color when crushed.