# what about red jell-o?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-red-jell-o/120349>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [July 23, 2002, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-red-jell-o/120349 "2002-07-23T06:53:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tsukinotenshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@tsukinotenshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsukinotenshi)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-red-jell-o/120349/1 "2002-07-23T06:53:52Z")

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[Is it true gelatin is made from decaying animal hides?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_103.html)

Well as if that wasn’t gross enough, in english class we were watching this national geographic video and it said that red jell-o is made from squished up bugs. Nasty. Does anyone know if it’s true? And why just red jell-o?

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-red-jell-o/120349/2 "2002-07-23T15:03:53Z")

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There is a red dye made from bugs, but I have no idea if that’s the same red dye they use in Jell-o. From another of Cecil’s columns ([Is some candy coated with beetle juice?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_118.html))

> [@](#):
>
> cochineal is a red dye made from the bug Dactylopius coccus

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-red-jell-o/120349/3 "2002-07-23T16:25:33Z")

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Jell-O is colored with FD&C certified food dyes; I believe they use Red #40 (a synthetic) for the red stuff. The cochineal insects are used to prepare the red dye called carmine, which is rarely used.

Jell-O may have contained carmine at one time, but I think they have kosher certification, which is incompatible with carmine (check me on this, O Jewish folk?). Jello-O used to be prohibited by the OU, but I understand that they came to terms not long ago.