What is cochineal? Can I eat it? Is there any danger to many people? What is the national standard?

In recent years, cochineal has been promoted all over the world as a dye, and it has been found that this kind of red is more bright and attractive than any other natural red dye used before. for a time, cochineal has become an "Internet celebrity" in the dyeing industry. What is that cochineal? Can I eat it? Is there any harm to too many people?

What is cochineal?

In the remote American continent of Mexico, there is a kind of scale insect of the genus Coccidae-cochineal insects. They live on cactus and make a living by sucking on the juice of the cactus. Male adults have wings to fly, females have no wings, female cochineal has a special ability, stress secretes a bright red carminic acid, after purification and other processes, can get a kind of red pigment-cochineal.

Cochineal is an anthraquinone derivative with a red diamond crystal or reddish brown powder. Some of the cochineal red products on the market are dark red sticky liquids. Insoluble in cold water, slightly soluble in hot water or ethanol. Soluble in alkali, insoluble in dilute acid. Insoluble in ether, chloroform, benzene. In alkali and dilute acid, the color varies with the pH of the solution, showing orange-yellow when acidic, crimson when neutral, and purplish red when alkaline.

The effect of cochineal

Cochineal can be used for coloring food, medicine and cosmetics, especially gargle, tooth powder, powder and ointment. When it is used in solid powder coloring, it should be dissolved in a small amount of concentrated ammonia, then added to the powder, and then ground for a long time. In order to obtain the best color of uniform distribution, silk and wool can be dyed bright red with aluminum salt or tin salt. It can be used as an indicator for pigment and titration of ammonia solution in food and cosmetics, and as a reagent for microscopic analysis and fluorescence analysis.

1. Cosmetics

It can be used in lipstick, foundation, eye shadow, eyeliner, nail polish and baby products.

2. Medicine

Cochineal is used in the pharmaceutical industry as a coating material for tablets and pellets and as a colorant for capsule shells.

3. Food

Cochineal can also be used in foods such as candies, drinks and meat products.

In addition to the coloring function, cochineal red pigment has been shown to play a significant role in preventing DNA damage caused by carcinogens, and can be used in the prevention and treatment of viral diseases (such as vesicular stomatitis, herpetic stomatitis, etc.), cancer and AIDS.

Cochineal red is mixed with yellow, orange and red pigments, such as curcumin, annatto, chili red and β-carotene, to produce a series of products with different tones.

At present, cochineal can be sold for more than 2000 yuan per kilogram, which is undoubtedly "white and rich" in the pigment industry. No matter whether cochineal is used in food cosmetics, the cost will rise sharply. Therefore, only some middle and high-end products will be used.

Can I eat cochineal? Is it harmful to the human body?

Cochineal is a kind of natural pigment. According to the study, it is very safe, non-carcinogenic and non-teratogenic, LD50 > 21.5g/kgbw. It is the only organic pigment allowed to be used in the eyes in the United States, and it is also the only natural pigment allowed to be used in both food, medicine and cosmetics by FDA. It is one of the pigments that remain enduring and are permanently listed in the catalogue of food, medicine and cosmetics in the United States. And exempt the certificate in the part of the federal regulation number. It is generally used for dairy coloring in China.

National standard for cochineal

According to the provisions of the National Standard of the people's Republic of China: the Standard for the use of Food Additives (GB 2760-2014), according to the national standard in China, the scope of application and maximum use of cochineal in food are as follows:

On December 22, 2017, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety Law, the review agency organized experts to review and pass the safety assessment materials of eight food additives, including 6Smur5-methyltetrahydrofolate, a new variety of food fortifier, and nitrogen.

As a food additive, cochineal has been listed in the National Standard for Food Safety Food Additives (GB 2760), and is allowed to be used in food categories such as fermented milk, milk powder and cream powder, frozen drinks, jams, confectionery, instant rice products, compound seasonings, beverages and other food categories. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, the European Commission and the United States Food and Drug Administration allow it to be used as a colorant in food. According to the assessment results of the Joint expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization / World Health Organization, the allowable daily intake of the substance is no more than 5 mg/ kg ·bw.

China's cochineal has been dependent on imports, has not formed a related industrial scale, and compared with safer but expensive natural pigments, many manufacturers should prefer to use synthetic pigments instead.

Speaking of, in 2012, Starbucks used cochineal to make strawberry cappuccinos and desserts, which was strongly protested by some vegetarians, and eventually Starbucks replaced cochineal, which had no safety and quality problems. use lycopene instead.