bugs aplenty, bugs galore

I'm reading back issues of Self magazine and I came across this little delight in the August 2006 issue:

"Forget they fly in your soup; there may be crushed beetles in your juice, yogurt or the imitation crab in your California roll. The FDA has proposed a rule to require companies to list the ingredient as 'carmine' or 'cochineal extract' rather than 'color added' for people who are allergic to the critters. Bonus: Vegetarians, people on kosher diets and the rest of us will also be clued in."

How is an ingredient called "cochineal extract" or "carmine" going to clue anyone (other than those who have read this tidbit from the magazine and bug aficionados) into what is actually in the food?

I'm kind of grossed out and kind of not, considering I've probably already eaten tons of bugs and just didn't realize it. And how do those people allergic to beetles figure that out? I don't go around eating random stuff, especially random skittering-around stuff just to see how my body reacts.

Just thought I'd share. You're welcome.


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Oh and I just found this link to a discussion of this (from 2003). The responses are interesting.