The Truth About Red 40

You might be wondering, why would anyone want to write about this?!, but this is how it started. For the past year, every time I have eaten M&Ms or Skittles with my little sister, she has flatly refused to eat only the red colored M&Ms or Skittles, saying there were bugs in the red dye, which, at the time, I thought was just a preposterous childish whim. As this ‘refusal to eat red’ continued however, I reconsidered what might have given her such a far-fetched notion, and that just hyped up my curiousity level, so I did a little research on what exactly Red 40 is. Here’s the real truth about that red dye you see in almost all candy and drinks. Red 40 or FD&C Red Dye #40 can be made of a few different things. The proper name for Red 40 is actually is 6hydroxy52methoxy5methyl4sulfophenyl-azo2naphthalenesulfonic acid, but since that is just a really long word for such a tiny molecule, the Red 40 chemical is often just referred to as an “azo” dye. Red 40 can be either made out of petroleum or coal tar or out of cochineal. Cochineal is actually a red dye derived from dead carcasses of the cochineal beetle (Dactylopius coccus) found in Mexico and South America. These beetles are mainly found on cacti in deserts of these places, and many are used to make Red 40 dye. The way you can distiguish if something red that you’re eating has Red 40 that’s from the cochineal beetles is that you can look in the ingredients. If you find “crimson”, “carmine”, or “cochineal” after Red 40, then you know there are dead carcasses of cochineal beetles in what you are about to eat. I did also find a lot of posts on sites like YahooAnswers from people who said that children have sensitivity to red 40, including temper tantrums, hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, uncontrollable crying and screaming, kicking, nervousness, dizziness, inability to concentrate and sit still among other findings. I am not sure that’s completely true, but many people had posted similar results. There is, however a natural alternative to the Red 40 dye, if cochineal beetles aren’t natural enough already. Beetroot powder has been used in many organic products in place of Red 40, with the same color effects. Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure will glance over that ingredients list before I put some potential cochineal beetle carcasses in my mouth!