Business & Tech

Starbucks Beetle Extract: Chain Ditches Controversial Insect Ingredient

Starbucks yields to pressure and reformulates its Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino without the ground up bugs.

Starbucks has announced it will no longer use cochineal extract in its Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino drinks and other products, instead opting for a tomato-based ingredient called lycopene.

The Seattle-based coffee chain said in a blog post on its website Thursday that it made the decision to reformulate its drinks after feedback from consumers prompted a "thorough" evaluation.

The company says it will swap out cochineal extract, which is made from the juice of a tiny beetle, and instead use lycopene, a tomato-based extract.

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Cochineal dye is widely used in foods and cosmetics products such as lipstick, yogurt and shampoo. Starbucks had used the coloring in its strawberry flavoured mixed drinks and foods like the raspberry swirl cake and red velvet whoopie pie.

The company says the items will be reformulated by the end of June.

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An online petition on Change.org asking the chain to stop using the bug-based dye had collected more than 6,000 signatures. The petition was started by a South Carolina woman who wanted to inform consumers that the chain's strawberry drinks weren't vegan-friendly.

“As our customers you expect and deserve better – and we promise to do better,” wrote Starbucks' U.S. President Cliff Burrows  in a blog post Thursday.


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