By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

The Vegetarian Resource Group received an email inquiry from a reader asking us to confirm whether Iberia Aloe Vera Strawberry Beverage contains insect-derived carmine. She noted that the red-toned drink was labeled vegan along with all the other flavors sold in green-colored bottles.

We contacted the company in June 2025. The Office manager at Iberia Foods told us that vegan appears on the label of all the aloe vera beverages. The only one that contains carmine, an insect-derived red coloring, is the strawberry variety. At the time of the call, she wasn’t sure if new labels were to be printed without the word vegan for the strawberry flavor, or if the beverage were to be reformulated without carmine. Once she found out, she’d let us know.

The next day, we received a voicemail informing us that new labels were being printed without the word vegan for the strawberry drink. It would take some time before the new labels would appear on the beverage.

As a follow-up, The VRG emailed about company plans to remove carmine from their strawberry beverage. They replied: “As explained previously, we have stopped printing labels that state vegan due to carmine being one of the ingredients. I wasn’t informed of any substitutions. It will remain the same ingredients.”

Petrochemical Dyes vs Natural Colorants on Ingredient Labels

The April 2025 announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the phase-out of eight petrochemical-based synthetic dyes – including FD&C Red No. 40 – from food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and other products is the latest clean label regulation in a growing number of countries.

To replace the synthetic dyes, the FDA recently announced the approval of three natural colorants, though none of them provides the bright red hue characteristic of many foods and beverages such as Iberia Foods’ Aloe Vera Strawberry drink. Those approved are vegan.

As The VRG reported in 2009, the FDA requires mandatory labeling of all foods and beverages containing carmine or cochineal extract because of the possibility of severe allergic reactions to them. However, the insect source does not need to be specified.

Carmine Market 2023-2033

Increased demand for carmine as a natural red colorant is projected to increase significantly from $50.8 billion in 2023 to $91.8 billion in 2033. Peru, Mexico, and Chile are the top commercial carmine exporters. It takes approximately 70,000 female beetles to yield one pound of carmine.

Carmine Substitutes and Insect-Free Carmine

In 2013, The VRG reported on plant-derived lycopene and anthocyanin, vegan substitutes for carmine. Microbial production of several different food colorings is also popular.

Increasing red colorant yields through traditional fermentation or via precision fermentation using fungal or bacterial genes, some of which produce the same carminic acid found in beetles, is a rapidly growing area of research.

In these cases, insect-free carmine is vegan.

If you should spot insect-free carmine or vegan carmine on an ingredient label, please let us know at [email protected].

The contents of this posting and our other publications, including Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.