WEBVTT - Why Is Carmine, a Dye Made from Bugs, So Popular?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bogel Bomb Here, red velvet cake and

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<v Speaker 1>strawberry ice cream aren't only alike in that they'll satisfy

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<v Speaker 1>your sweet tooth, they likely share a common ingredient made

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<v Speaker 1>from a not so common source that gives them their

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<v Speaker 1>red to pink Q. That's carmen, a natural red dye

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<v Speaker 1>also labeled as Cochineal Extract E one twenty or Natural

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<v Speaker 1>Red Dye four, and it owes its beauty to a

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<v Speaker 1>teeny tiny bug, the female cotton neal bug. To be precise,

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<v Speaker 1>In addition to its possible gross out factor, this tasteless

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<v Speaker 1>f d A approved extract has a history full of

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<v Speaker 1>interest and intrigue. Betsy Ross even used this bright red

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<v Speaker 1>dye to make the red stripes on the very first

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<v Speaker 1>American flag. The cotch neal is a slate bug that

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<v Speaker 1>feeds on prickly pear plants grown throughout Mexico, South America,

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<v Speaker 1>the southwestern United States, and the Canary Islands off the

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<v Speaker 1>coast of Spain. The male cotch neil plays its own

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<v Speaker 1>unique role in nature, but it's the wingless, legless female

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<v Speaker 1>that interests dye makers If you go looking for her,

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<v Speaker 1>you won't find her vibrant red bounty on display. The

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<v Speaker 1>female cotch neil's gray exterior is covered in a white

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<v Speaker 1>powder that protects her from predators as well as the

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<v Speaker 1>scorching sun, and since the juice from the cacti is

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<v Speaker 1>her only source of nutrition, she burrows in and is

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<v Speaker 1>understandably a bit stubborn about releasing her hold. In order

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<v Speaker 1>to harvest the cotch neil, the prickly pear pads are

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<v Speaker 1>cut and brought to factories so that the bugs can

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<v Speaker 1>be pulled out and processed, but it takes some serious

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<v Speaker 1>people power. Approximately seventy thousand cotch neals are needed to

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<v Speaker 1>create just one pound of dye that's a little less

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<v Speaker 1>than half a kilo. Once the harvested bugs are dried,

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<v Speaker 1>ground and mixed with an alcohol solution or other compounds

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<v Speaker 1>like borax, they give way to a vibrant, long lasting

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<v Speaker 1>dye that can be used to make colors from scarlet

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<v Speaker 1>to purple to pink to peach. Dyes have been used

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<v Speaker 1>to color everything from textiles to pottery since the Neolithic

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<v Speaker 1>period or New Stone Age, but the majority sourced from vegetables, plants,

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<v Speaker 1>and trees. But bugs have had their place too, and

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<v Speaker 1>not only the cocheneal. Another elusive die associated with wealth

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<v Speaker 1>and royal status, Tyrian purple, was made from the glands

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<v Speaker 1>of snails. The cocheneal bug is native to Mesoamerica. The

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<v Speaker 1>Aztecs are believed to be the first to use Carmen

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<v Speaker 1>to fill their lives with stunning shades of crimson. When

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<v Speaker 1>the Spanish colonizers arrived in the Americas, they learned about

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<v Speaker 1>Carmen and built enormous wealth by monopolizing the cocheneal market.

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<v Speaker 1>Spain kept the source of the color a secret, and

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<v Speaker 1>even made export of the die illegal, punishable by death.

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<v Speaker 1>Coveted by the wealthy, the royal families, and the artists

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<v Speaker 1>across Europe, this die created fertile ground for contention. Those

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<v Speaker 1>cumbersome and secretive production methods certainly made Carmen expensive, but

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<v Speaker 1>the color itself was an explosive part of Carmen's mystery

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<v Speaker 1>and popularity. We spoke with Amy Butler Greenfield, author of

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<v Speaker 1>The Perfect Red, via email. She said, red is the

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<v Speaker 1>color of blood, fired, death, and desire, and we can't

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<v Speaker 1>help but respond to it on many levels. It makes

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<v Speaker 1>our eyes dilate and our breath come faster, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>freighted with symbolic meaning. Also, there are very few natural

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<v Speaker 1>dyes that make a lasting, bright, true red, so good

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<v Speaker 1>ones had the value of rarity ounce for ounce. Coccinial

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<v Speaker 1>is the most powerful natural red dye in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why it was prized. When industrialization arrived in the

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<v Speaker 1>mid eighteen hundreds, the demand for textiles increased dramatically and

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<v Speaker 1>created a need for more cost effective dyes. Chemists began

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<v Speaker 1>to use petroleum and coal to formulate synthetic ones, ultimately

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<v Speaker 1>reducing the need for the cotchinial bug. The shift towards

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<v Speaker 1>synthetics may have pushed carmen too the background, but it

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<v Speaker 1>didn't disappear, and now it's making a comeback, showing up

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<v Speaker 1>on ingredient lists for anything from cake pops to lipstick.

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<v Speaker 1>Greenfield said. When reports started linking synthetic reds to cancer

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<v Speaker 1>and hyperactivity, and as people started taking an interest in

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<v Speaker 1>natural foods in general, the market for cotchin neal began

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<v Speaker 1>to rebound. So if carmen is a natural product without

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<v Speaker 1>the negative long term effects, why did the coffee giant Starbucks,

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<v Speaker 1>along with numerous other companies stop using it to add

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<v Speaker 1>color to their products. While carmen is safe for the

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<v Speaker 1>majority of people, it can cause an allergic reaction, and

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<v Speaker 1>besides that safety concern, folks like vegetarians, vegans, and people

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<v Speaker 1>who keep kosher helped advocate for the change. But no

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<v Speaker 1>matter whether you find eating a bug appalling, fascinating, or dangerous.

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<v Speaker 1>For such a tiny insect, the cochineal bug has certainly

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<v Speaker 1>left a vivid mark on culture, beating our attraction to

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<v Speaker 1>the beauty and power of red. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Katie Carmen and produced by Tyler Clang. For more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other topics, visit how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of my heart Radio.

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