What is Carmine?

Carmine is a brilliant red dye made of crushed insects, usually coachineal or Polish cochineal insects. This dye is used in a variety of products, from cheeses to color, and people often do not know about its use, because the labeling laws usually do not require its publication. Carmine attracted great attention in some communities, such as the vegetarian community because of its use as food additive. The dye is also listed as Crimson Lake or Natural Red number four and is identified in the European Union as the E120. Occasionally, it will be explicitly listed as "Carmine" on the label or as a "cochineal dye". Depending on the conditions under which the insects are crushed, the color of the dye may vary considerably, and this is an important consideration for companies that want to produce consistent dyes. Crush causes insects to release carminic acid, a substance that generates to repel predators, and this can be treated to form a carmine.

Pure Carmine is red and very crumbly. The dye is often falsified by other materials to facilitate handling and sending, and sometimes it can be difficult to control your quality and safety as a result. Once ready, it is sold to a wide range of industries for use in things such as textile dyes, colors, inks, food, cosmetics and artificial flowers.

As an ingredient in food, Carmine is a source of concern to some people. For vegetarians and people who follow religion with dietary restrictions, it is the fact that this dye is often not marked. Some people also have side effects on Carmine, which has led to pressure between food safety activists to clearly mark it so that people who wish to avoid it can do it.