Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@rawglowau
Topics: TikTok, Food And Drink, Parenting
Anish Vij
A young mum was absolutely stunned after learning what ingredient was in her children's food.
Like most mothers during the Easter period, Katrina Mitra, 35, decided to treat her kids to some chocolate eggs.
However, the health conscious parent from Australia - who owns her own low tox company Raw Glow - decided to take a look at the back of the packet.
After reading the label, Katrina noticed that 'Cochineal' was listed in the ingredients and she was shocked after learning what it meant.
Advert
Sharing her views to TikTok (@rawglowau), the mum's reaction went viral.
"Are you kidding me?" she said, after learning that Cochineal is in fact a form of insect commonly used in foods.
Cochineal is basically scaled insects which are dried and then crushed to make a natural dye for food.
"Have you heard of it? Seriously, I am disgusted. I don't know why this has to be in a biscuit," the mum added.
Advert
"To me that is just like, toxic. None of us will be eating these again and don't let your family eat these either."
Her video went viral on TikTok, with many agreeing in the comments that they don't want Cochineal in their food.
"So important to do your research and check everything so many hidden things these days," one person wrote.
"We are heading into a future where the elites are wanting us eating bugs… gotta stand and boycott NOW," another added.
"Just because it's been used for centuries doesn't make it okay to be eating BUGS," a third wrote.
Advert
Others simply thought it was already common knowledge: "Good grief girl... cochineal has been used for decades and is totally harmless.
"Doesn't matter where it comes from it's just another animal by-product."
"People want natural colours but don't want to know where the colour comes from," a second wrote.
Cochineal bugs are oval-shaped insects, around 0.2 inches long, and are turned into natural dyes, such as cochineal extract, carmine and the pure pigment carminic acid.
Advert
Amy Butler Greenfield, author of A Perfect Red, a book about carmine and its history, told BBC: "Carmine is an incredibly stable and reliable natural food dye that can be used to create a wide range of colours - pinks, oranges, purples, as well as reds.
"A few people have serious allergic reactions to it, but overall it has a great, long-term safety record."