Rogue vegan barista outs Starbucks for using ground-up bugs as a red dye

Strict vegans and others who prefer not to eat ground-up insects were upset to learn that a sauce used in certain Starbucks drinks contains, well, ground-up insects. The Seattle Times reports that Starbucks Strawberries and Crème Frappuccinos are made with a sauce that contains cochineal extract, “made from the bodies of ground-up insects indigenous to Latin America.” The paper broke the bad news after a vegan barista did the passive-aggressive right thing and sent the sauce’s ingredient list to a vegetarian blog. The extract is used in other Starbucks products, including their “red velvet whoopie pie.” And it’s not just vegans who are upset. The Center for Science in the Public Interest thinks that, at the very least, companies should have to disclose that their products contain insect derivatives—if the FDA isn’t going to nix the colorants altogether. But how could Starbucks achieve that lovely red hue without the bodies of insects, you ask? How about something like vegan-friendly beet juice? Or, um, strawberries? Read the entire story [Seattle Times] »