Ever wonder why some ice creams (particularly those that are reddish in color), strawberry milk, candied cherries, fruit drinks, candy yogurts (outside of the gelatin issue), IMITATION crab meat (made from kosher fish, such as Pollock/Snow Cod), and other seemingly kosher foods are never given the Kosher stamp of approval? It seems that there has been much concern from both Jewish and vegan groups (and rightly so) over the FDA’s decision to allow manufacturers to hide the fact that these “food” items have a dye added to them which is made with the ground up bodies of dried insects. The Associated Press has recently published an article on this concern and the FDA’s continued debate on the required labeling of such additives (as of now, these ingredients are not required to be listed at all).
All of the aforementioned items are nearly guaranteed to have this concoction added to them in order to enhance their visual appeal. However, this is a serious problem for anyone truly wanted to eat kosher, but has grown weary of trying to find that little circle-K or circle-U (among many other) stamp of approval from a Rabbinic authority on every item they purchase at the grocery store. Issues such as this may cause a return to a reliance upon the Rabbinic authorities, even from those who would not like to be bound to such restrictions. It appears this is definitely a time when the “Rabbis know best.”
Link to the article from the Associated Press