deep purple-red color, and that's the source of cochineal, cochineal dye, carmine, whatever you wanna call it. Narrator: For thousands of years, people have been using these bugs to dye everything ...

An curved arrow pointing right. Cochineals are tiny bugs that live on prickly pear cactuses. The acid in their guts makes a red dye used in textiles, cosmetics, and foods like M&Ms and Yoplait yogurt.

The intense red color of ... A growing number of consumers wanted vegan makeup. (Crushing bugs also creates an allergen because of other bug parts that end up in the dye.) But because synthetic ...

Note: Cover your workspace and protect your clothing to avoid unwanted stains from the insect dye. Optional: Set aside the towel/filter with the big bug parts ... carminic acid, Natural Red 4, or E120 ...