The insect called cochinealThe plant that typically lives on prickly pear cacti is used by the food industry as a coloring agent for cooked ham, cured sausage, mortadella, chorizo, and also yogurts and strawberry candies. Because if we were to read the labels cochineal (Dactylopius coccusPerhaps we would think twice before buying all these products; there are other, permitted, alternatives: E-120, carminic acid, or carmine. And incidentally, that same component, carmine, is also used in cosmetics to create red lipsticks.