Starbugs

Newscore
April 20, 2012

STARBUCKS said it will phase out the use of a red dye made from ground up insects that the company uses to color some of its beverage and food products.

The Seattle-based coffee giant said it will no longer use cochineal extract, which is processed from crushed beetles, to color some of its red-tinted products.

“After a thorough, yet fastidious, evaluation, I am pleased to report that we are reformulating the affected products to assure the highest quality possible,” Cliff Burrows, the company’s US president, said in a statement posted to the company’s blog.

Instead, Starbucks will start using lycopene, a tomato-based extract, to tint offerings that need red coloring, including strawberry banana smoothies and miniature donuts.

“Our intention is to be fully transitioned from existing product inventories to revised food and beverage offerings near the end of June across the US,” Burrows said.