Starbucks gets the bugs out. To please vegetarian customers who objected to having crushed cochineal beetles used as food dye in their strawberry frappuccinos, Starbucks has decided to use a tomato-based dye instead. This is what passes for adulthood in Seattle.
This post was last modified on January 26, 2021
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No more jobs in the beetle industry somewhere in the 3rd world, might be the only thing they export. Maybe they could grow strawberries, but that would be to natural for a frappachino.
Cal Worthington, phone your office.
All that to sell a car?
k, i had to search for that one. :D
Cal Worthington was an icon of Southern California television for decades. With his dog, Spot.
I had forgotten all about Cal until you said the name
If they were crushing them, shouldn't they call them "Flat-a-cinos?"
How about "Beetlejuice?"
aww, thanks for the mornin laff y'all. :D
Ah, Robert my friend. You want a laugh, go check this out.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000KKNQBK/ref=s9_simh_gw_p121_d0_g121_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1B9T8BCTJKF69R4BFF1N&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294
Go read the comments on this product on Amazon.com. It's hilarious.
OMG!!!
I've been alternately laughing and crying for nearly 5 minutes!!
How the hell did you find that?
obviously you've not seen how hirsute RH is, PoppaJ. LOL
OK, it's early and I'm not fully awake. Who or what is RH?
RockingHorseGuy.
:D aka flash.
i'm still trying to figure out the batman thingy. you have any idea?
Actually, after I posted it, I got to thinking that you guys would think I ran across that whilst looking for a way to get rid of some hair. Actually, a friend posted it on FB, we all went for a look, and have been laughing ever since. I love the way the Brits describe things.
LOL first title of review by Andrew got me rolling
rofl.
I once played around with some mint crest. that was enuf for me not to ever try and chill willy (if ya know what i mean)
"I'm Batman!" LMAO
Even if you weren't vegetarian, would you want bugs in your Frap?
And I agree with Shang: why not just use strawberries?
As above, also, this is a very common food dye. It is the only insect extract permitted under FDA rules for human food.
color me surprised.
I spent years in the landscaping/lawncare industry, often I had to remove these little critters from non-cactus ornamentals... all that time i thought it was blood but turns out it was actually worth somethin....
speaking of farming, how badly do you think this move will hurt the Peruvians? Will we now have an influx of even more Illegal Mexicans? Or will the organo-cosmetic industry take up the slack? maybe they could sell more rouge to the Columbian whores?
Frankly, I'm glad I can't afford starbucks any more. Also, I'm really, REALLY happy I don't much care for strawberry flavored drinks.
Anyone who is a strict vegan, just as a Jewish person who keeps Kosher, would have known the red dye was from the bug and would have avoided it. This is was a brilliant way for Starbucks to get the word out for free.
So what are you saying, that bugs aren't Kosher?
Leviticus 11:20 NIV
"'All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you.
Lev 11 is a great start to finding out what is/isn't clean for observant Jews to eat. I might add, that even though the menu is healthy it is no longer a requirement for being spiritually acceptable to the Ancient of Days.
Ah, so if the beetle doesn't fly it's okay. Maybe this cochineal fella just walks everywhere... like a dung beetle.
Personally I'd rather eat a flier than one of the little guys who rolls turds for a living.
the male of the cochineal has wings so it's not kosher.
choleoptera, of which the dung beetle is a member, also have wings though they're sheathed.
Recall where it is written, about the man who straineth out gnats? That's why he was strainething them.
Keeping Kosher means a person is a vegan? My friends that keep Kosher are going to be VERY upset to find that out.
Why don't they just use strawberries?
Because it would cut into their profit margin and they wouldn't be part of the 1% any more.
The OWS crowd needs to reevaluate who they support. Starbucks and Apple aren't exactly known for their low corporate profits.
I think Shang means, Why don't they just not use a dye? Which is my thought....I guess even pretentious Starbucks snobs can't drink their strawberries flatuchinos or whatever without it looking like it has strawberries in it.
PD, i think they need the color so they'll know what flavor it is.
Starbuck's is a private corp, and as such, is free to do whatever the heck it wants. And I'm sure that "what it wants" is dictated by what their customers want.
But they are an interesting case. They bend over backwards to push themselves as all sorts of "environmentally responsible" and sensitive to small farmers being taken advantage of by large corporations (I forget the term for that - responsibly grown, or sustainable agriculture, or whatever it is when they buy the coffee beans directly from the small farmers, who get a somewhat larger amount of money that otherwise would have gone to middlemen/wholesalers) (supposedly), and shade grown to supposedly save the rainforests from clearcutting. They even provide the New York Times in many of their stores here in NJ.
And whenever the G-7 or G-20 or whatever the number-du-jour is, meet in some foreign city, who do the Luddites firebomb?
Starbucks!
Go figure.
(that's just an expression. Don't actually try to figure anything having to do with those protesters. You'll suffer brain damage)
The coloring made from this beetle is one of the most commonly used food colorings that there is in use today. It's perfectly safe even if it is a bit icky.
not Perfectly safe. It can cause anaphylactic shock in some folks.
There's always somebody that's allergic to ANYTHING.
Yeah, there's something about Starbuck's that enrages anarchists and other knuckleheads. Recently they vandalized a Manhattan Starbuck's, throwing a few dozen baristas onto the unemployment line.
Mission accomplished.
Of course, it would make for an interesting case if a bunch of customers now banded together and DEMANDED the return of crushed beetle dye because the strawberry no longer tastes the same or they worship tomatoes or something. One day, you could have the barrista ask, "Would you prefer lycopene dye or crushed beetle dye strawberry syrup?" And what a bummer if he said, "I'm sorry, we're all out of lycopene-dye strawberry syrup, all we have is the crushed beetle."
Oh Lord, now you've given them the idea of offering a choice of dyes.
I guess ubiquity has its drawbacks.