Beetle coloring in Starbucks’ Strawberries & Creme Frappuccinos bugs vegans
Scripps Howard News Service March 29, 2012 11:10AM
Cochineal beetle
Updated: May 1, 2012 8:18AM
When Starbucks changed its Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino mix, it made sure the new ingredients were dairy-free. But no one said anything about being bug-free.
Turns out the strawberry sauce used in the coffee chain’s Frappuccinos contains cochineal extract — made from the bodies of ground-up cochineal beetles.
Starbucks made the switch in January, when it aggressively moved away from artificial ingredients.
An anonymous vegan barista who works for Starbucks sent a picture of the sauce’s ingredient list to a vegetarian blog called www.ThisDishIsVegetarian.com , which recently posted it.
ThisDishIsVegetarian.com, wants Starbucks to go back to using a vegan coloring like red beet or black carrots. Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson confirms “the strawberry base for our Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino does contain cochineal extract, a common natural dye that is used in the food industry, and it helps us move away from artificial ingredients.”
