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U.S. health officials are pushing to remove artificial dyes from foods
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That has businesses looking to find a replacement for red and pink, and many are turning to bugs
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All right, Fox 5's Theresa Priolo joins us live in the newsroom. Scientists say the special bug can actually make Barbie pink naturally
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So we've all heard the debate, guys, about red dye in our food, specifically red dye 3 and 40
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This is something that began under the Biden administration, but with RFK Jr. in office
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it's taken on a new level of importance. RFK Jr. is looking to outlaw six petroleum-based dyes that commonly color our foods, candies, and cereals
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The most common ones are yellow five, yellow six, and as I mentioned, red 40
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Together, they make up 90% of all the food dye used in America
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Red 40 alone used in 36,000 food products in the U.S. And over the years, research in animals has shown a potential link between these dyes and an increased risk of cancer
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A lot of people are now looking at their labels and they're finding they have no idea what they're ingesting
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Oh, don't tell me. This jar of pickles. Not just pickles. It's my favorite pickle
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Take a look at that. Uh-oh. It has yellow. It's got yellow
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Yellow five. Yep. Oh, my God. I had no idea. Uh-oh. That's going to change my body
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Totally surprised. I never had all the cancerous stuff in it. Especially Skittles
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That's one of my candies right there. Got to love Skittles. So with those on the way out, the red dyes and the yellow dyes, supposedly by the end
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of the year, companies are getting creative. And one way that they're trying to color foods naturally is with insects, specifically female cochineal
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Coconeals are harvested in Peru and on the Canary Islands from a prickly pear cacti
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They are sun-dried, crushed, and then dunked in an alcohol solution to give it that bright red color
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About 70,000 insects are needed to produce just one pound of dye
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Now, cochineal can cause a severe allergic reaction in some people. So if it does become used and popular, it'll be absolutely listed as a product on the ingredient list
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So Steve and Natasha, get ready to start saying Beetlejuice. There we go. That's right
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Good job, Teresa. All right. Thank you
