i hate bugs, i HATE them with a passion

i am phobic about bugs (see this entry from my connecticut blog what is the date today? )

and i KNEW what cochineal was (there was an issue a few years ago with a popular juice using this as coloring agent. once i read about it and found out what it was, i checked EVERYTHING before i ate or wore it on my face) but i didn't know what carmine was nor e120 OR the simple 'color added' tag. i am also a vegan (well as close to being one as i can be. i'm not a saint. i use wool and silk and i'm sure i have eaten the occasional item with milk or an egg in it. i'm guilty enough so stop heaping abuse on me, OK!). anyway, along comes this article on cnn's website

FDA: You're eating crushed bug juice
Cochineal extract, carmine should be listed on labels, officials say
WASHINGTON (AP) -- That ice cream you're eating or the lipstick you're wearing just might contain extract from crushed bugs. On purpose.
And the government thinks you should know.
The Food and Drug Administration proposed Friday requiring food and cosmetic labels to list cochineal extract or carmine if a product's ingredients include either of the two red colorings that have been extracted from the ground bodies of an insect known since the time of the Aztecs.
Release of the proposed rule came after the FDA received 35 reports of hypersensitivity to the colorings, the agency said. A 1998 petition by the Center for Science in the Public Interest asked that the FDA take action.
The widespread use of the dyes in everything from yogurt to lipstick hasn't exactly been well-disclosed: The ingredients typically are listed as "color added" or "E120," the FDA said.
Carmine puts the red in ice cream, strawberry milk, fake crab and lobster, fruit cocktail cherries, port wine cheese, lumpfish eggs and liqueurs like Campari, according to the FDA. Carmine is also used in lipstick, makeup base, eye shadow, eyeliners, nail polishes and baby products, the agency said. Meanwhile, cochineal extract shows up in fruit drinks, candy, yogurt and some processed foods.
That can upset vegetarians, Jews trying to keep kosher and anyone who might blanch at learning their blush is made from bugs........