Brouhaha in a Strawberry Frappuccino: Starbucks Tries to Get It Right But Falters

Give credit where credit is due: Starbucks tried to get it right. The Seattle-based coffee purveyor tried to avoid using fake-food chemical dyes in half a dozen delicious pink-to-red edibles. 

But Starbucks didn't foresee the public recoil as fans become increasingly educated about "natural" ingredients. 

The brouhaha started last month when an upset vegan-eating barista emailed a photo of Starbucks' strawberry flavoring label to website ThisDishIsVegetarian.com.

Included in the label's ingredients is cochineal extract, a natural-based dye commonly "used to produce a range of scarlet, red, pink and orange hues" in food, cosmetics, and textiles.

The problem is the origins of cochineal extract:  a tiny, cactus-dwelling insect hand-collected mainly in Peru.