So you don't like beetle juice, huh?

This past January, Starbucks launched an aggressive effort to move from artificial ingredients to all-natural. Beetles were part of the swap. Once a vegan barista discovered the switch-up, the Detroit Free Press reports, he alerted a vegan blogger and the news took over the ‘Net.

Starbucks has since announced that they are eliminating beetles not just from their strawberry-flavored drinks, like the tasty Strawberry Frappuccino, but they’re also removing it from the Raspberry Swirl Cake, Red Velvet Whoopie Pie and various other pink- and red-colored treats. It’s replacement? Lycopene.

Lycopene is a tomato-based extract that is, like the cochineal beetle, completely natural. Its origin, however, seems to be going a long way to soothe outraged coffee consumers. Vegans across the globe are rejoicing.

BY BRITTANY TAYLOR ON 4/20/2012 12:53:00 PM

POSTED IN health, nutrition, In the News