Now that it is fashionable to talk about eating insects, it is worth remembering that sometimes the food industry is a few years ahead of us. We may not yet take the step, as in Mexico, to eat grasshoppers, but it is true that we eat insects, or derivatives of these, in a certain way.
With entomophagy —eating insects— by flag and planned for the future as a way to end up consuming proteins of animal origin, the truth is that In some additives that we eat today there are already insects.
Perhaps not directly, but in the form of these additives that are derived from the presence of an insect that has been in our lives for many years: the carmine cochineal, whose name has also led to the creation of the so-called carminic acid.
Scientifically known as Dactylopius coccusthe carmine cochineal has been used as a natural dye since pre-Hispanic America and, with the Conquest of America, created a lucrative business It has continued to grow over the centuries.
Today its use as a dye for fabrics is residual, but it is its use within the food industry that is most relevant and which leads us to talk about carminic acid, used as dye in drinks and foodon this day.
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if you ever see the E-120 nomenclature in any of your productsyou should know that you are consuming carminic acid —which is 100% safe for health—, but that it is nothing other than that cochineal extract.
However, it is becoming less common to see it, as it is a fairly expensive product in proportion to other dyes that offer shades of red, violet or purple as it happens with beta-carotenes or anthocyanins, which are cheaper and therefore the industry prefers them.
To give an example of products where cochineal extracts were used, we should mention jellies or strawberry yogurts, where it is still common. Also if you see on the label that they refer to it as carmine You must also be clear that it is still E-120 or carminic acid, which is totally safe for human consumption.
It should also be noted that it is the only natural dye that has a Protected Designation of Origin, specifically the PDO Cochinilla de Canariaswhere there is a strong industry around the cochineal, which grows in the prickly pears —called prickly pears in the rest of Spain.
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As a last point, so that no one cries out for the world of insects in gastronomy, we must also talk about the so-called shellac or additive E-904, which is a resinous gum of animal origin.
This is obtained through the excrement of two species, the kerria lacca and the Kerria yunnanensisnative to Southeast Asia, which perforate different barks of trees and whose depositions are converted into a solid resin that is later used in the food industry as polishing wax for chocolates, cakes, fruits or sweets.
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