The cochineal insect is a tiny, scale-like creature that lives on certain types of cactus. The Aztecs discovered that by crushing the insect, they could extract a rich, durable red pigment that ...

As a dye, the female cochineal insect is harvested, killed, and sun or oven dried. The insects are small, so it takes roughly 70,000 insects to make a pound of dye.

After cochineals die, their legacy lives on in the brilliant red hue produced by their hemolymph! The cochineal is a tiny insect deeply rooted in the history of Oaxaca, Mexico. Female cochineals ...

TAGS: burgundy, carminic acid, cochineal bugs, Dactylopius coccus, fda, Food dyes, insects, jon zawislak, pigment, Prickly pear cacti, red, red dye No. 3, scarlet, University of Arkansas System ...

It’s the same supply issue with cochineal dyes. Roughly 70,000 cochineal insects are needed to produce about 2.2 pounds, or 1 kilogram, of dye, the AP reported.

With Morocco’s prickly pear season approaching, renewed outbreaks of the invasive cochineal insect have been detected in ...

Yes, bugs. Many of these drinks use the natural dye carmine, which is extracted from the cochineal, a tiny insect, to achieve their vibrant hue. This is not some weird new craft-distilling trend ...

Amor Nouira, a farmer in Tunisia's Chebika village, has lost hope of saving his prickly pear cacti, ravaged by the cochineal insect spreading across North Africa.