• smayonak@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Red has proven to be the most difficult color to synthesize due to how red colors oxidize or break down in the environment. The natural red colors all fade rapidly which makes them poorly suited for industrial purposes.

    It’s why carmine is a godsend because it’s both stable but it breaks down in the environment. It also has an incredibly long history as a food dye and has proven to be safe. Unfortunately it’s derived from insects so it’s regarded as being… gross? Weird how consumers prefer health consequences over bugs

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
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      1 day ago

      Is the food industry doing this research the way fossil fuel and tobacco did research?

    • taiyang@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Well, that and it makes it non-vegitarian. I remember when Starbucks used insect derived dyes and vegetarians were pissed off when they weren’t told their drink technically had bug in it.

      That said, we eat bugs (and poop, etc) all the time since there’s a legal amount you can let slip into food when processing. So eh.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        One of the most striking quotes I’ll always remember from a documentary is “natural peanut butter has more bugs in it because natural ingredients always will”. When you’re eating processed peanut spread, the ingredients have gone through a lot more filtering and processing steps and allowed insect parts are lower.

        I still eat natural peanut butter though