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Starbucks barista reveals strawberry Frappuccino contains crushed bugs
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Shine On
If you've treated yourself to a Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino or a Strawberry Smoothie from Starbucks in the past month or so, chances are you've unknowingly ingested cochineal beetles -- yes, bugs -- reports the Globe and Mail.
The news was bound to surface sooner or later, but luckily for us, an anonymous vegan barista from the American midwest made a point to spread the word shortly after she believed the ingredient change occurred. She wanted to let like-minded people know that the formerly vegan beverages, as promoted by Starbucks beginning two years ago with its "however-you-want-it-Frappuccino" campaign, were no longer animal free, even when they were made with soy milk.
"The strawberry sauce we use contains 'cochineal extract,'" she writes to ThisDishIsVegetarian.com. "My guess would be that the recipe changed about three or four weeks ago, when our strawberry sauce got new packaging."
Dried female cochineal beetles produce a red dye that the Globe and Mail reports is actually deemed safe by both Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But according to PETA, while the extract may be safe and is used in a number of cosmetic and food products, it's simply not ethical -- 70,000 of the beetles are reportedly killed to produce just one pound of the red dye.
In response to the controversy, Starbucks released the following statement:
"At Starbucks, we strive to carry products that meet a variety of dietary lifestyles and needs. We also have the goal to minimize artificial ingredients in our products. While the strawberry base isn't a vegan product, it helps us move away from artificial dyes.
Many Starbucks ingredients can be combined to create a beverage free from animal-derived products; however, we are unable to guarantee this due to the potential cross-contamination with other animal-derived products in our retail locations."
As an alternative to cochineal extract, PETA suggests beet juice, which has no known toxicity and is less likely to cause an allergic reaction. ThisDishIsVegetarian.com also recommends black carrot, purple sweet potato and paprika as other all-natural, animal-free alternatives to crushed insects.
Daelyn Fortney, co-founder and managing director of the website, started a petition on Change.org to end the use of cochineal for colouring beverages and it already received 2,143 signatures. Whether this encourages Starbucks to come up with a new way to colour its strawberry sauce remains to be seen.
Will you still drink a Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino knowing it contains bugs?
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