If you are horrified by the thought of eating insects, the bad news is that you have probably done so many times. This is because on of the most widely used food colourings – carmine – is made from crushed up cochineal bugs, which are native to Latin America where they live on cacti. Now farmed mostly in Peru, millions of the tiny insects are harvested every year to produce the colouring. A staple of the global food industry, carmine is added to everything from yoghurts and ice creams, to fruit pies, soft drinks, cupcakes and doughnuts. Yummy. It is also used extensively in the cosmetics industry and is found in many lipsticks. Carmine continues to be widely used because it is such a stable, safe and long lasting additive whose colour is little affected by heat or light.
It reminds me of those men who say that they could never dream of dating a girl who was a sex worker. The hypocrisy of that has never failed to amaze and vaguely disgust me as those men are as likely – possibly more likely – than their male peers to pay to use the services of professional Marbella escorts. But oh no, while it is perfectly fine for them to have sex with a sex worker while they are in a relationship, they would never date a woman who had been a hooker or escort. Well, it is just as well that they do not realise that there is an excellent chance that they are doing just that.
It is amazing just how many females have spent a short time “in the business” at some point in their lives. Of course, there are not that many women who have made it a career for an extended period of time, but a staggering proportion of women have had at least one sexual encounter for which they have received either money or gifts. Of course, many women are in denial about the reality of the situation. They would not see that being given a thousand euro handbag in return for a night of passion is the same as being given two five hundred euro notes. But it is. So everyone has been eating bugs without knowing it. And a huge number of men have been sleeping with or marrying sex workers without knowing it.
