after my last post i decided to go 'fact hunting', you could say. and i found this little fact:
"Cochineal and Carmine are deep crimson food dyes that are extracted from the female cochineal insects. It is used in foods such as alcoholic drinks, bakery products and toppings, cookies, desserts, icings, pie fillings, jams, preserves, gelatin desserts, juice beverages, varieties of cheddar cheese and other dairy products, sauces and sweets. Cochineal is also used to color Mcdonalds Strawberry Shakes. The average human consumes one to two drops of carminic acid each year with food. The insects are killed by immersion in hot water (after which they are dried) or by exposure to sunlight, steam, or the heat of an oven. Each method produces a different colour which results in the varied appearance of commercial cochineal. The insects are then dried and ground into a powder."
....i will never look at food the same way again
found
here