1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Bogel Bomb Here, red velvet cake and 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: strawberry ice cream aren't only alike in that they'll satisfy 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: your sweet tooth, they likely share a common ingredient made 5 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: from a not so common source that gives them their 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: red to pink Q. That's carmen, a natural red dye 7 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: also labeled as Cochineal Extract E one twenty or Natural 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: Red Dye four, and it owes its beauty to a 9 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: teeny tiny bug, the female cotton neal bug. To be precise, 10 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: In addition to its possible gross out factor, this tasteless 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: f d A approved extract has a history full of 12 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: interest and intrigue. Betsy Ross even used this bright red 13 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: dye to make the red stripes on the very first 14 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: American flag. The cotch neal is a slate bug that 15 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: feeds on prickly pear plants grown throughout Mexico, South America, 16 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: the southwestern United States, and the Canary Islands off the 17 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: coast of Spain. The male cotch neil plays its own 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: unique role in nature, but it's the wingless, legless female 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: that interests dye makers If you go looking for her, 20 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,400 Speaker 1: you won't find her vibrant red bounty on display. The 21 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: female cotch neil's gray exterior is covered in a white 22 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: powder that protects her from predators as well as the 23 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: scorching sun, and since the juice from the cacti is 24 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: her only source of nutrition, she burrows in and is 25 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: understandably a bit stubborn about releasing her hold. In order 26 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: to harvest the cotch neil, the prickly pear pads are 27 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: cut and brought to factories so that the bugs can 28 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: be pulled out and processed, but it takes some serious 29 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: people power. Approximately seventy thousand cotch neals are needed to 30 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: create just one pound of dye that's a little less 31 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: than half a kilo. Once the harvested bugs are dried, 32 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: ground and mixed with an alcohol solution or other compounds 33 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: like borax, they give way to a vibrant, long lasting 34 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: dye that can be used to make colors from scarlet 35 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: to purple to pink to peach. Dyes have been used 36 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: to color everything from textiles to pottery since the Neolithic 37 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: period or New Stone Age, but the majority sourced from vegetables, plants, 38 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: and trees. But bugs have had their place too, and 39 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: not only the cocheneal. Another elusive die associated with wealth 40 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: and royal status, Tyrian purple, was made from the glands 41 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: of snails. The cocheneal bug is native to Mesoamerica. The 42 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: Aztecs are believed to be the first to use Carmen 43 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: to fill their lives with stunning shades of crimson. When 44 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: the Spanish colonizers arrived in the Americas, they learned about 45 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,239 Speaker 1: Carmen and built enormous wealth by monopolizing the cocheneal market. 46 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: Spain kept the source of the color a secret, and 47 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: even made export of the die illegal, punishable by death. 48 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: Coveted by the wealthy, the royal families, and the artists 49 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: across Europe, this die created fertile ground for contention. Those 50 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: cumbersome and secretive production methods certainly made Carmen expensive, but 51 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: the color itself was an explosive part of Carmen's mystery 52 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: and popularity. We spoke with Amy Butler Greenfield, author of 53 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: The Perfect Red, via email. She said, red is the 54 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: color of blood, fired, death, and desire, and we can't 55 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: help but respond to it on many levels. It makes 56 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,239 Speaker 1: our eyes dilate and our breath come faster, and it's 57 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: freighted with symbolic meaning. Also, there are very few natural 58 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: dyes that make a lasting, bright, true red, so good 59 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: ones had the value of rarity ounce for ounce. Coccinial 60 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: is the most powerful natural red dye in the world. 61 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: That's why it was prized. When industrialization arrived in the 62 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: mid eighteen hundreds, the demand for textiles increased dramatically and 63 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: created a need for more cost effective dyes. Chemists began 64 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: to use petroleum and coal to formulate synthetic ones, ultimately 65 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: reducing the need for the cotchinial bug. The shift towards 66 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: synthetics may have pushed carmen too the background, but it 67 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: didn't disappear, and now it's making a comeback, showing up 68 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: on ingredient lists for anything from cake pops to lipstick. 69 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: Greenfield said. When reports started linking synthetic reds to cancer 70 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: and hyperactivity, and as people started taking an interest in 71 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: natural foods in general, the market for cotchin neal began 72 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: to rebound. So if carmen is a natural product without 73 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: the negative long term effects, why did the coffee giant Starbucks, 74 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: along with numerous other companies stop using it to add 75 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: color to their products. While carmen is safe for the 76 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: majority of people, it can cause an allergic reaction, and 77 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: besides that safety concern, folks like vegetarians, vegans, and people 78 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: who keep kosher helped advocate for the change. But no 79 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 1: matter whether you find eating a bug appalling, fascinating, or dangerous. 80 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: For such a tiny insect, the cochineal bug has certainly 81 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: left a vivid mark on culture, beating our attraction to 82 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: the beauty and power of red. Today's episode was written 83 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: by Katie Carmen and produced by Tyler Clang. For more 84 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: on this and lots of other topics, visit how stuff 85 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of my heart Radio. 86 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i 87 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,919 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 88 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.